


Let's Get D-D-D-Dangerous

by RebellingStagnation



Series: Geronimo Series [1]
Category: Darkwing Duck (Cartoon), DuckTales
Genre: Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-12
Updated: 2016-01-12
Packaged: 2018-05-13 08:55:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 17
Words: 33,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5702530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RebellingStagnation/pseuds/RebellingStagnation
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Darkwing, Gosalyn, and Launchpad journey to Duckburg when the Fearsome Five start a crime spree in the far off city. But there's more to this adventure than everyone bargained for and our favorite heroes and villains will be put to tests they could not have imagined. Set about 10 years after both series. Rated T to be safe.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Big Spender

_Launchpad._

_This is all for Launchpad._

The thoughts centering her, she exhaled, releasing her nerves with her breath, and transferred her gaze from the barrel of the gun aimed between her eyes to the wielder of the weapon. His beak was turned downwards in a frown, his blue eyes glittering dangerously in the moonlight. They were the same shade of blue as her father’s.

Of course they were! Negaduck and Darkwing were the same duck, after all, the most noticeable difference between the two being their morals. Then there was their voices and color schemes… 

_Launchpad. Remember Launchpad._   _Stop being so ridiculous. Focus._

“I see you’ve been to that new discount weapon warehouse.” She nodded to the gun, the barrel still cold from the factory lines. 

“You think this is impressive, wait until I break out the bazooka that was half off,” he growled, eyes narrowing under his blood red fedora. 

“I’d rather not stick around that long if it’s all the same to you,” Gosalyn said, holding her hands up in surrender.

“I’ll make sure you won’t.” Negaduck pushed the gun forward, the barrel now pressed against Gosalyn’s forehead. Ignoring her instincts to grab for her bow and arrows or drop to the ground and kick Negaduck’s webbed feet out from under him, Gosalyn maintained eye contact with the villain. 

_Launchpad._

“I’m not in the habit of getting captured…” Petering off, Gosalyn couldn’t think of how to end her sentence. Negaduck’s frown deepened in the silence. Oh, boy. He was probably offended that she mentioned she’d allowed him to capture her. Even if it was true.

What had she been thinking, considering this good idea? How was she supposed to explain her plan? Where was she supposed to _start_? With the truth?

The truth!

She’d never used that as a weapon before. Now was as good a time as any to try. Negaduck was eager to maintain his Public Enemy Number One slot; wouldn’t murdering St. Canard’s newest hero just be icing on the cake? 

Right. The truth. 

“What I meant to say was that I planned this little … meeting … between us."

Negaduck cocked a brow, not moving his weapon. But he hadn’t fired. Truth: 1 Lies: 0

“I wanted to talk to you."

“Did you now?” Negaduck growled. “Getting captured was the best way to have this 'discussion'?"

“How else would I guarantee uninterrupted time with St. Canard’s Public Enemy Number One?"

Negaduck’s eyes gleamed with self-congratulations at his unquestioned reign of terror over St. Canard. That was it! She needed to pander to his ego. Her father was insanely arrogant, Negaduck would be no different.

"I know you’re busy,” Gosalyn continued. "Besides, Darkwing would never have allowed me to meet you in my free time."

“Never mind Dipwing,” Negaduck snapped. “He’s hardly worth my time as it is. What makes you think you’re so special?"

“I have a proposition.”

“You’re stalling. I bet you're just wasting time so Darkwing Dork can jump in and save you.” Negaduck glanced to the skies, eyes roaming through the cloudless night. “That plane is probably up there with the air-for-brains pilot waiting for some sort of signal…"

The mention of Launchpad, however unwittingly, spurred Gosalyn forward. “I wanted to see if you’d be interested in planning a villainous escapade to Duckburg.”

She was all for truth, but blurting her whole plan out like that. How uncouth. If she wanted to be the hero her father was, she would need to master the art of banter with the villains she came up against. They could go for days, throwing insults and puns at one another. Bantering seemed to elude Gosalyn completely. She had always swept in while her father and the villain argued and simply captured the bad guy. Never mind silly word games and clever puns. She had a job to do.

Darkwing always chastised her later, saying he had meant to do what she had done, or the arguing was all a part of his plan, but Gosalyn knew. He was stalling until he figured out exactly what to do.

No wonder Negaduck had called her on it.

Negaduck broke the silence, and Gosalyn’s thoughts, with, "Why shouldn't St. Canard keep my interest?"

At last! She had him considering the idea. 

"Of course! Why ruin a good thing? Your reign as Public Enemy Number One is untested. Why risk leaving to terrorize more citizens in a bigger city? I don't think they even have a list of public enemies in Duckburg with Gizmoduck as the local hero..."

“That sappy do-gooder!” Negaduck snarled, the grip on his gun tightening. Gosalyn’s breath hitched. Maybe she should convince him to drop his weapon before getting him riled up. 

“He wouldn’t know a true villain if he got hit in the face with one!” Negaduck continued to rampage. 

“And he’ll never know what it’s like to have any sort of challenge unless someone takes action. I thought that someone could be you."

Negaduck returned his attention to Gosalyn. She took advantage of his silent scrutiny.

“Duckburg’s entire city is run by one thing: McDuck Enterprises. There are major departments within this blanket corporation that you could wreak havoc with. Their power grid, for example, is all connected to one central location. Can you imagine what Megavolt, under your leadership, could do with the whole city’s power at his fingertips? And what about the water department? McDuck Enterprises would be running amok if you told Liquidator to redirect the water supply or switch clean for dirty water…”  

“What is this?” Negaduck interrupted, pushing the gun further against Gosalyn’s head, causing her to lean back slightly and immediately raise her hands higher. “What are you up to?” 

“I’m just pointing out how easy it would be for someone of your talents to all but rule that city…” 

“This isn’t something a hero would typically do.” A manic look crept into Negaduck’s eyes. “Tell a super villain how to take down a city one step at a time.” 

Gosalyn focused on breathing normally. “It’s not like there’s nothing in this for me. Darkwing, Launchpad, and I would get to travel to Duckburg to fight all of you.” 

“Dipwing, the pilot, and you would be coming along?” 

“Gizmoduck couldn’t take one of you, never mind the Fearsome Five as a whole unit. Darkwing Duck and Quiverwing Quack would need to help him. Or maybe just take over and fight all of your ourselves.” 

Negaduck considered Gosalyn briefly. “It’s more of a change of venue? St. Canard become too pedestrian for you, hero?” 

“If you like,” Gosalyn offered. Negaduck observed her for a moment before glancing around at the city below and the towering skyscrapers surrounding them.

“I’m inclined to agree.” Negaduck dropped the gun to his side. He kept the weapon in his hand but his grip was considerably looser. Gosalyn released her breath in a rush, collapsing on the ground in her relief.

“Gotta say, Quiveriwing, I’m intrigued by your offer. But I’ll need something more than a change of scene to get me to travel all the way to Duckburg and commit a few felonies.” 

“What do you have in mind?” She was willing to give him just about anything if he wouldn’t point that gun at her again.

Stop! Her personal safety couldn’t be on the line here. She had to negotiate this as if there was nothing for her to gain. Couldn’t become desperate; desperate people always gave away too much.

“Scrooge McDuck’s gold. He won’t willingly part with any of it, so kidnapping those nephews is out of the question. But surely he won't miss a few thousand out of that money bin. Especially if he’s not present for the burglary and his alarms are all disabled.” 

Gosalyn shook her head, standing up on her feet. “Oh no. I refuse to get tangled up in that mess. Find someone else to disable Scrooge’s vault.” 

Negaduck rolled his eyes. “Not _you_! I would take care of the crime, all you would need to do is make sure Scrooge was out of the picture for, say, thirty minutes. And in return, I can arrange a few villains to commit some crimes at precise locations and specific times.” 

“Are you suggesting we… become agents … for Darkwing and the Fearsome Four?” 

Negaduck shrugged. “Why not? I can guarantee some success for Darkloser, which would give him a better track record than Gizmoduck, and boost his ego. And you can make sure everyone’s otherwise occupied when I sneak into the money bin and nab a little something for myself. Or see a painting that I think might look better in my home than in an art gallery … What do you say?” 

What _did_ she say? It was tempting, to schedule guaranteed successes for her father. He had been insufferable lately, lamenting that there were no crimes to solve, no evildoers to thwart, and giving him successful missions would help to make him less irritating. Granted, if he ever found out that his daughter and hero-in-training had arranged his victories he would then feel inadequate, thinking he wasn’t really a hero, just running around playing the crime fighter while Gosalyn did all the heavy lifting. Then there was the obvious fact that she would be in league with her father’s most hated rival. She wasn’t sure which he would take worse, the blow to his ego or the betrayal of his only family member. 

And who could vouch for Negaduck, really? He could be lying. Gosalyn would hold her end of the bargain and keep everyone occupied while Negaduck played the burglar, but who could say he would reciprocate and give Darkwing the success and fame he promised? Did Negaduck even keep his word? Did he make promises? These were all questions Gosalyn needed answers to before risking not only her father’s reputation, but also a trip to Duckburg with such high stakes. 

“I need to know you won’t double cross me,” Gosalyn declared, crossing her arms. “So I say we do a small trial run here in St. Canard before running off to the Duckburg big leagues.” 

“Fine by me.” Negaduck holstered his gun and cocked an eyebrow at Gosalyn, daring her to do her worst. The fact that the weapon had been put away spoke volumes of how seriously Negaduck was considering this, but Gosalyn wanted more concrete proof.

“Quackerjack. He needs to rob the First National Bank three days from now around noon.” 

Negaduck sneered. “Child’s play.” 

Nodding, Gosalyn said, “Good. Make sure it happens then maybe we’ll have a deal.” She turned on her heel, swishing her cape around her dramatically. Which turned out to be a mistake because Negaduck grabbed ahold of the end and tugged at it.

Stumbling back, Gosalyn glared at Negaduck as he glared right back. “I need to know you can follow through too, do-gooder.” 

It was only fair. She would need to show Negaduck she could keep the heroes distracted. Gosalyn straightened up, fixing her cape, and nodded her consent.

“There’s a gun expo coming to town at the end of the week. I’m sure I’ll need to restock my collection by then.” 

“How many guns we talkin'?” 

“The number doesn’t matter. I’m taking what I want, pipsqueak.”

Gosalyn opened her beak to object to the name, but Negaduck didn’t allow her the interruption.

“I’ll show up around ten in the morning and peruse the merchandise. Half an hour later, they’ll mysteriously disappear. Darkchump can’t show up until I’ve made my escape and I can’t be suspected.” 

Her mind reeling, Gosalyn almost denied Negaduck his challenge. Keep her father away from a crime for half an hour at least? Who did Negaduck take her for? Granted, she had given him the hardest villain to schedule. Quackerjack was the wildest of wild cards, often getting distracted mid-caper and altering his crime to fit his new needs.

And what was a test supposed to be if it wasn’t challenging?

Gosalyn scoffed at Negaduck’s demands. “Is that all you’ve got?” He didn’t seem convinced of her confidence and grinned at her maliciously. 

“Hold up your end of the bargain, Quiverwing, or Duckburg will only ever be a pipe dream.” 

“I will if you will, Negaduck.” 

“You’ll be hearing from me, or should I say from Quackerbrains, on Wednesday.” 

“Make room in your gun collection in your free time.” 

Negaduck’s grin grew. “This may be the start of a hateful relationship.” That said, the caped convict took off, jumping from the roof and using his cape as a parachute to land safely on his motorbike. With a rev of the engine, Negaduck sped down the street making sure to blaze through all the red lights on his way. 

Sighing, Gosalyn walked over to the side of the rooftop and shouldered her quiver and bow from where Negaduck had kicked them during their scuffle. Had she really just made a deal with St. Canard’s Public Enemy Number One? How was she supposed to go home and act like everything was normal when she was in cahoots with her father’s most fearsome foe? 

She would have to find a way or else Duckburg was out of the question and she refused to do that to Launchpad. The pilot deserved to see his old employer and catch up with his old friends and Gosalyn was determined to give it to him.

Even if it did mean being in league with Negaduck.

 

 


	2. You and Me (But Mostly Me)

“Yes! Yes!! YES!!!” Darkwing all but flew around the Tower, collecting any manner of superhero fighting equipment he could get his feathered hands on and tossing them unceremoniously over his shoulder to his trusty sidekick. Launchpad managed to catch most of the flying machinery only to pass it up to Gosalyn, who was atop a ladder packing the Thunderquack.

“Finally, a challenge! These supervillains won’t know what hit ‘em once Darkwing Duck shows up!” 

“ _Just_ Darkwing Duck?” Gosalyn quipped, rolling her eyes as she placed a crate of her father’s gas canisters next to her bow and arrows. 

Darkwing chuckled. “And Quiverwing Quack.” 

“AND his loyal sidekick,” Gosalyn offered, smiling at Launchpad.

The pilot shrugged off Darkwing taking all the credit for a fight he had yet to win. “Don’t worry about me. I’m just excited to be headed back home.” 

“We need you, Launchpad. No matter what Dad says. Or doesn’t say.” Gosalyn reached out and took the pile of Darkwing suits from Launchpad’s arms. He’d packed all of his crime fighting gear but had yet to delve into his Drake Mallard closet. Did he think he wouldn’t have to use his secret identity at all? Even Gizmoduck didn’t go wheeling around in his supersuit all the time.

“Oh, I know, Gos. And I’ll help where I can. But I’ll have a lot of catching up to do with Mr. McD and the boys… Though, they probably won’t be boys anymore…” 

“Yes, yes,” Darkwing cut in, waving away Launchpad’s ramblings. “But don’t forget _why_ we’re going to Duckburg, LP. We can’t spend our time remembering the past and catching up to the future. The Fearsome Five have all but taken over the city and who better to vanquish them than DARKWIIIING DUCK?” He swished his cape around him dramatically, already imagining the throngs of adoring fans swarming to thank him for his selfless and death-defying deeds. 

A look from Gosalyn, though, caused Darkwing to clear his throat. “With the help from his sidekick and hero-in-training, of course.” 

“I’m sure there will be _some_ time for Launchpad to visit all his old friends, Fearsome Five or no,” Gosalyn said.

She knew full well that the Fearsome Five would be spacing out their crimes over several weeks, giving Launchpad plenty of opportunities to see and talk to anyone and everyone he wanted. With Negaduck, her new partner, heading up the crime spree, Gosalyn was confident that both her father and Launchpad would walk away from Duckburg having gotten everything they wanted.

As would Negaduck. She needed to get to know Scrooge and those closest to him before coming up with a concrete plan to keep them distracted during Negaduck’s money bin burglary. Yet, she couldn’t help the wild thought here or grand scheme there which kept occurring to her. She had two weeks to figure something out before she had to make plans with Negaduck. There was plenty of time. 

“I sure appreciate this visit to Duckburg, DW,” Launchpad said, handing Gosalyn Darkwing’s back up gas guns.

“Vacation time” wasn’t something Darkwing had in his vocabulary, and going outside the St. Canard city limits, even for a weekend getaway, was simply out of the question. All vacations had to be taken within their town, if vacations were to be taken at all. And they usually weren’t. Darkwing attributed it to the life of a crime fighter. Gosalyn attributed it to Darkwing’s obsession with his image, not wanting to sacrifice a weekend where he could possibly miss out on some important crime. Launchpad didn't think much of it at all; he went where Darkwing went and did what Darkwing asked, as sidekicks do. Darkwing’s life was crime fighting, therefore, so was Launchpad’s. 

“Launchpad, Launchpad, Launchpad,” Darkwing sighed, shaking his head. “This is a hero’s calling. Not a week of relaxation. Once we get the Fearsome Five under control, we have to return here as quickly as possible. The city could be under siege from any number of ne’er do wells, and Darkwing Duck needs to be on call to strike fear into their hearts. We’re taking a risk as it is, traveling to Duckburg to make sure the Fearsome Five return to our city. I need to keep them confined to St. Canard where I can keep an eye on them, and I’m willing to take the risk of leaving St. Canard if it means protecting the fair citizens of Duckburg.”

Gosalyn rolled her eyes, climbing fully into the Thunderquack to arrange the suitcases Launchpad was hauling up to her. She and the pilot exchanged a few knowing smiles as Darkwing continued his monologue.

“Yes, even the mighty Gizmoduck cannot handle the quintet of quizzical quandaries who have stumbled into his fair city. Only Darkwing Duck, the Masked Mallard of Darkness, can swoop in to save the day. How can I deny a fellow hero in distress? Especially when I’m the only one in the whole world that can help? It’s a tough job but someone’s got to do it, and I have taken up that sacred calling.” 

“Oh, _brother_ ,” Gosalyn muttered, earning a raised eyebrow from Darkwing.

“It _is_ weird,” Launchpad cut in, much to Darkwing’s chagrin — no one appreciated a good speech nowadays — “that the Fearsome Five should go to another city to commit their crimes. What’s wrong with St. Canard?” 

Gosalyn dropped the hat boxes from her hands, the purple fedoras spilling all over the interior of the Thunderquack. One wayward hat floated down, landing on Darkwing’s beak. He snatched it off, giving Gosalyn a look of disapproval.

“These costumes just came back from the cleaners. Getting them to Duckburg in one pristine piece is appreciated.” Stalking over to the Thunderquack, he handed the lone hat up to his daughter who grabbed it. 

“Sir, yes sir,” she said, her tone coated in sarcasm. She straightened up and saluted him, getting a grin from Launchpad. 

With one last stern glare at Gosalyn, Darkwing turned back to his sidekick. “I couldn’t tell ya why the Fearsome Five have changed their location, LP, but I do know this: if in St. Canard, Duckburg, or Timbuktu, the Fearsome Five cannot hide from Darkwing Duck!” 

“Sure, Dad. They changed cities to escape you.” Gosalyn scooped up the last hat and stacked it inside its box, closing the lid. “It’s not for some other reason that actually makes sense.” 

“Uh, like what?” Launchpad scratched his head. “Negaduck got away with those guns a week or two ago. I don’t think he needs anything else.” 

Gosalyn nearly stumbled out of the Thunderquack that time, but managed to steady herself. She needed to keep her cool. No one suspected a thing. She and Negaduck still had their secret pact, and it would be staying that way.

Her near tumble from the plane went unnoticed by her father, who was bemoaning his defeat by his demented double. “Yeah, well, let’s not talk about that little incident. Negaduck may have a brand new arsenal, but don’t let that fool you. He could have stolen them with plans to use them in Duckburg. And we can’t forget that triumph we had against Quackerjack at the First National Bank! The insane toymaker didn’t even get a cent despite his best efforts. Perhaps he’s gone to Duckburg to get the money he couldn’t steal here thanks to the Terror that Flaps!” 

At this rate, Darkwing would never suspect Gosalyn for arranging these crimes, even if she told him the truth. He was too wrapped up in his image, as per the usual, and hadn't managed to put two and two together. It hadn’t occurred to him to consider why Gosalyn had suggested a sweep of the city about five minutes before the caper occurred. Or to wonder how she had made sure they were prepared with their anti-Quackerjack crime fighting equipment before they left Darkwing Tower. (No fight against Quackerjack was complete without a dental drill to fight off those toy teeth he used as his henchmen.) 

“You don’t think he’s after Mr. McD’s money, do you?” Launchpad asked, his voice rising in his worry. 

“That’s an idea!” Darkwing snapped his feathered fingers. “Quackerjack always needs a buck or two for his toy making. And the others in the Fearsome Five have never said no to a quick cash grab. Step on it, LP!” Darkwing ran towards the Thunderquack, flipping into his passenger seat and strapping himself in. “We have to get to Duckburg and warn Scrooge of the impending threat to his money bin before it’s too late!” 

“Hey, you don’t have to tell me twice!” Launchpad moved the ladder away from the plane before running to his side and climbing in. 

“What if they aren’t after Scrooge’s money?” Gosalyn offered, sitting down in her own seat, the only open spot with the plane fully packed. “Do you think he’ll appreciate you barging in without an invitation? He’s a busy duck, I’m sure he’s got meetings or business functions all day.”

Phase one: get all suspicion off of the money bin. Negaduck’s robbery needed to be the last thing on anyone’s mind. If she could manage to convince her father and the other ducks that the money bin was out of the criminal’s purview, then Negaduck stood a chance of making away with his money. She needed to hold up her end of the bargain. Negaduck would be. Or so she hoped. Their St. Canard test run may have been a success, but that didn’t mean the villain wouldn’t turn on her the soonest chance he got. She would need to keep an eye on Negaduck. On top of everything else.

“No time for that!” Darkwing waved away Gosalyn’s concerns as the plane took off. “We have evil doers to thwart!” 

“Okay,” Gosalyn crossed her arms, watching the retreating Audubon Bay Bridge and St. Canard skyline. “But when Scrooge yells at you for interrupting something, I reserve the right to say ‘I told you so’.”

“I reserve the right to say ‘I told you so’,” Darkwing mimicked, scowling back at his frowning daughter. “You won’t have to say it at all, Gosalyn. You’ll see. Once we get to Duckburg, everyone will be so relieved to see Darkwing Duck and his crime fighting team that all inconveniences will be forgotten.”  


	3. Good Morning, Duckburg

“I told you so,” Gosalyn sneered at her father. 

Slapping his palm to his forehead, Darkwing rolled his eyes before turning back to Scrooge McDuck. “Mr. McDuck, I’m sorry to have interrupted your meeting, but I would not barge in like this without a good reason! The Fearsome Five, St. Canard’s most dangerous villains, have infiltrated your city and, I’ve no doubt, plan on emptying your money bin amongst other foul deeds.” 

“Have they now?” Scrooge raised an eyebrow. “And what proof do you have of this ‘infiltration’?” 

Darkwing puffed out his chest. “My police scanner picked up the report of a recent case of breaking and entering at your water company. There were puddles of water at the scene of the crime along with traces of fertilizer—” 

“Puddles of water. You came all the way from St. Canard for puddles of water found outside of a water company?” Scrooge clenched his cane for a moment before relaxing his grip. 

“ _And_ fertilizer,” Gosalyn pointed out, unable to keep the sarcasm from her voice, though she tried. She really did.

Scrooge sent her a small smile. “Let’s not forget the fertilizer.” 

“Well, _he_ won’t,” Gosalyn said, nodding to her father.

Darkwing chuckled nervously before turning to Gosalyn and and hissing, “Thank you, sweetie. Daddy can take it from here.” 

She sighed and stepped back to where Launchpad was standing, his eyes darting between his old boss and his best friend.

Gosalyn knew these crimes were the work of the Fearsome Five only because she’d set it up. The proof Darkwing had gathered amounted to almost nothing. Which was all a part of her and Negaduck’s plan. She’d argued with him over how obvious to make it seem that new villains were in Duckburg, and he’d fought for obscurity. Something meaningless to everyone else, but monumental for Darkwing. He looked for small clues and was often rewarded for his attention to detail, the seemingly unimportant always leading to a case and an eventual arrest. Darkwing would look more the hero if he suspected a crime spree before it even happened, or so Negaduck had said. Gosalyn just hoped the villain was right.

“These signs may seem like nothing to you, Mr. McDuck, but the water and fertilizer together is a clear sign of the Liquidator’s and Bushroot’s handiwork. Not to mention, a day or two later there was an attempted burglary at the Duckburg Art Museum! The electricity had gone out without any explanation, signs that a chainsaw had been used to break in, and there was a banana peel near…” 

“The Beagle Boys.” Scrooge interrupted. “They were behind that particular caper. And Gizmoduck has already apprehended them. Don’t tell me this is your only proof?” 

“Well, that is to say…”

“Look, Darkwing,” Scrooge's eyebrows furrowed in frustration, “I appreciate your willingness to help out our city from an attack, but we simply don’t have a need for you. Gizmoduck can handle any and all threats to Duckburg and then some. I’m sorry you wasted a trip.” The older duck turned away, picked up a phone, and informed his secretary that his board members could come back into the conference room. 

Darkwing looked back desperately at his daughter, who only shrugged.

She had warned him not to leap into that conference room. Suggested he not introduce himself with, “I am the terror that flaps in the night! I am the drop in the stock market no one predicted! I am Darkwiiiing Duck!” She had even blatantly pleaded that he not use his trademark blue smoke.

But had he listened?

No.

Because he could never turn down a chance to be dramatic. And what better way to announce his arrival into Duckburg than by bulldozing his way into a conference room where the most important duck in town was holding an essential business meeting? Smooth as ever, Darkwing. 

After the initial shock and a brilliant recovery by Scrooge, allowing his fellow board members to take a break, the older duck had been more than happy to see Launchpad. He shook the pilot’s hand, welcomed him back to Duckburg, and said it had been too long since they’d seen each other, blah, blah, blah. But then he’d turned to Darkwing, with a frown so deep Gosalyn feared it might drip off his beak. Scrooge gave Darkwing exactly five minutes to explain what he was doing there before he called security. 

Gosalyn checked the clock. The five minutes was nearly up. She needed to stall for only about an hour, then her dad wouldn’t seem crazy. Well, _as_ crazy. How to keep Scrooge interested? … With his trusty pilot, of course!

Turning to Launchpad, Gosalyn whispered, “Isn’t there something you could say to Mr. McDuck to get him on Dad’s side?” 

“I’ve never known DW to be wrong about this kind of thing before,” Launchpad agreed. “But I had no idea that nothing had happened here yet. DW just mentioned that the Fearsome Five were in Duckburg, not that a crime had yet to be committed…” 

“Don’t we owe it to Dad to trust that he knows what he’s doing?” Gosalyn countered.

_That_ convinced him. Just as she knew it would. If only people were as easy to manipulate as Launchpad. 

“Uh, Mr. McD,” Launchpad said, stepping forward. “I know DW doesn’t have a lot of proof yet, but he’s usually not wrong about this sort of thing. Couldn’t we stick around for a few days and make sure everything’s all right?” 

“Everything’s _not_ all right, and it _won’t be_ all right—” Darkwing started but Gosalyn elbowed him in the ribs, which effectively shut him up.  

The board members silently filed back in, resuming their seats and flipping through reports. Finally, the older duck nodded. “For you, Launchpad, I’ll concede to a week’s stay. Meet me out in the lobby in an hour to arrange everything. Now, ladies and gentlemen, if we may resume…” 

Gosalyn grabbed Darkwing’s arm and dragged him from the room, following Launchpad back down to the first floor lobby. 

“ _Concede to a week’s stay_?” Darkwing growled, straightening his suit. “I’ll tell him what I’ll _concede_ to…” 

“Don’t push our luck, DW,” Launchpad begged.

“Besides,” Gosalyn pointed out, flopping into a leather armchair, “this gives you time to catch the Fearsome Five in some act of villainy.” 

“You’re right!” Darkwing said, clapping his hands and rubbing his palms together. “We just got here too early! The Fearsome Five haven’t yet been successful, but they will be, and Darkwing Duck will be there to apprehend them when they are!” With that, Darkwing was adequately distracted, muttering how best to capture the villains when they revealed themselves.

Launchpad took a seat in a chair near Gosalyn’s as he looked around the lobby. “It’s so weird being back.” 

“In a good way?” Gosalyn asked, eyeing him apprehensively. This whole trip had been designed for him. She needed to keep that in mind, no matter what crimes and superhero victories she would be coordinating. 

Launchpad grinned at her. “In the best way.” 

Gosalyn relaxed into her chair as her father paced back and forth, planning his ultimate victory against the Fearsome Five. Launchpad continued to peruse the lobby, occasionally smiling when his eyes fell upon something familiar. 

“Launchpad?” came a voice near the entrance. “Launchpad!” 

“He-hey boys!” Launchpad stood and ran to meet a group of three identical teenage boys. The group embraced as Darkwing and Gosalyn made eye contact, wondering who these people might be.

“You’ve all grown so much!” Launchpad remarked.

“It’s so good to see you!” one of the boys said, grinning up at the pilot.

“What are you doing here?” another one of the boys asked.

“I came to fight crime with Darkwing Duck,” Launchpad said, his grin bigger than Gosalyn had seen it in years. 

“Way cool!” 

“Gizmoduck mentioned you were a sidekick, he just never mentioned to who.” 

“ _Excuse_ me?” Darkwing cried, stalking over to the group. The boys studied Darkwing as he approached, but there was no recognition in their eyes.

“Gizmoduck didn’t mention… Do you even have any idea who I am?” Darkwing asked.

“I would assume Darkwing Duck,” said the boy who was wearing blue, “since Launchpad mentioned he was with you.” 

“Are you a hero like Gizmoduck?” the boy dressed in green asked, eyes sparkling at the thought. 

“Am I a hero?” Darkwing echoed incredulously. “I’m only the best hero St. Canard has to offer! No villain stands a chance with Darkwing Duck!” 

“Or his trusty sidekick, Launchpad,” Gosalyn pointed out, rolling her eyes. Honestly. Her father wouldn’t be half as successful on his own. He needed to remember that.

The boys glanced over to the new voice, and the boy sporting red grinned when he noticed Gosalyn.

“Hey there, I’m Huey,” he said, sidling up to Gosalyn and waggling his eyebrows.

“Hi, Huey. I’m not interested.” Gosalyn gave him a scalding look before walking up to the small group. The boy in blue grinned while the one in green snickered.

“Hey, hey, hey!” Darkwing said, swooping down upon Huey. He tried to tower over the boy, but they were around the same height, so Darkwing settled for a stern glare. “Back off.” 

“Just trying to be polite,” Huey mumbled, shoving his hands into his pants pockets. 

“I’ll be watching you,” Darkwing threatened. 

“I’m Dewey,” the boy in blue said, pointing to the last brother in green, “and that’s Louie. It’s nice to meet you, Darkwing Duck and … Not Interested.” 

“Gosalyn,” she said, nodding a greeting.

“What’re you boys doing here?” Launchpad asked.

“We were gonna have lunch with Uncle Scrooge. Thought we’d check to see if his schedule was free.” Louie glanced at Huey, who rejoined the group reluctantly, and smirked at him. 

Gosalyn mentally heard Negaduck’s voice as she recalled their first “meeting” atop the rooftop a few weeks ago. _Kidnapping those nephews is out of the question._

Scrooge had nephews. And Negaduck knew about them. What else did Negaduck know about Duckburg and Scrooge that he hadn’t let on? 

“Looks like Uncle Scrooge is free… Launchpad!” Before anyone could react, a young blond duck threw herself into Launchpad’s arms, hugging him fiercely. 

“Webbie!” Launchpad returned the embrace, smiling again. As they separated, his smile grew even larger. “Look how you’ve grown! It’s been too long!” 

“It has! It’s so good to see you!” She was sickeningly sweet. Her smile was too big, her hair was too flawless, and her beauty — and she was beautiful if the reactions of all the men passing by was any indication — was too _much_. 

Gosalyn wondered if Negaduck knew about this Webbie girl and why he hadn’t thought to warn her. Gosalyn hadn’t been prepared to make a mortal enemy.

“Who are your friends?” Webbie asked, weaving her arm through the crook of Launchpad’s elbow and smiling warmly at Gosalyn and Darkwing.

“Webbie, this is my best friend, Darkwing Duck, and his daughter, Gosalyn. Guys, this is Webbie, Mr. McD’s adopted grand-niece.” 

_Isn’t that nice for her_ , Gosalyn groused internally. But she smiled and nodded when introduced. Darkwing removed his hat and bowed. 

“It’s so nice to meet you!” Webbie gushed. “I’ve wanted to meet you for so long so I could see who Launchpad was living with and here you are! You have to have lunch with us. I’m sure Uncle Scrooge and Launchpad have a lot to catch up on. And I want to hear all about St. Canard.” 

“That sounds great,” Darkwing said, smiling at Webbie. When the girl turned back to Launchpad, Darkwing muttered to Gosalyn, “How do we get out of this?” 

A surge of affection for her father overwhelmed Gosalyn for a moment and she nearly hugged him, but she settled for sharing a smile with him. Darkwing had never been one to like those overly feminine types of girls and Gosalyn loved him all the more for it. 

“Maybe you kids can help us out,” Launchpad said, glancing around at his old friends. “DW and I have to convince Mr. McD that Duckburg is under siege by a group of villains called the Fearsome Five.” 

“Is it, though?” Dewey asked. 

“It will be,” Darkwing assured.

“Of course we’ll help in any way we can!” Webbie said, smiling at everyone and probably blinding half of the people in the lobby the way the light reflected off her perfect teeth. “Have you two seen Duckburg yet?” she asked, looking right at Darkwing and Gosalyn. 

Darkwing shook his head. “Arrived this morning.” 

“Well, why don’t we show you around before we have lunch? You guys can see everything…” 

“That’s very nice of you to offer,” Gosalyn cut in, grabbing her father’s arm and holding on tightly. “But we have to stay here. We’re meeting Mr. McDuck in an hour and…” 

“That’s a whole hour, though!” Webbie cried, triumphant.

“Surely we can at least show you around downtown,” Louie offered. 

So close. Gosalyn had such high hopes for Louie, but it was clear they could never be friends now. Not with this betrayal.

“Sounds good to me,” Launchpad cut in. “It’ll be nice to see everything again.” With that, he allowed Webbie to lead him outside, the boys following. 

“We have to go, don’t we?” Gosalyn lamented. Darkwing pushed her towards the exit. 

“Never miss an opportunity to learn the layout of a city,” he instructed. “Besides, it’s good manners to learn about your friends and their past.” 

“Yeah, sure. Manners.”

“There you two are! Thought we might have lost you.” Webbie linked one arm through Darkwing’s and the other through Gosalyn’s. “You’ll be getting the private tour of Duckburg today! It really is so nice to finally meet you two! Gosalyn, I get the feeling you and I will be the best of friends!” 

Gosalyn grimaced as she was led out into the bright sunny Duckburg day. 

 

 


	4. Everyone's a Hero

“Shouldn’t we be getting back? We don’t want to miss our meeting with Mr. McDuck!” Gosalyn called, but it was a lost cause. Launchpad was too swept up in his memories to care about meeting Scrooge. And Darkwing was so occupied with ducking and weaving through crowds to search for any trace of the Fearsome Five that he didn’t notice half of what they walked by. Or those two light poles he ran into. Or the manhole in the middle of the street he fell down. 

“I can call Uncle Scrooge for you. We’ll be seeing him at lunch besides, so you can talk to him then,” Webbie assured, pointing to a park or something, to which Launchpad laughed and turned to the boys, sharing some memory with them. 

Gosalyn huffed in annoyance as she dodged a family who stopped abruptly in the middle of the sidewalk to purchase hot dogs from a vendor. “I just worry that if we miss this meeting with Mr. McDuck, we’ll get off on the wrong foot and we didn’t exactly make the best first impression…” 

“Here’s City Hall!” Webbie proclaimed, oblivious to Gosalyn’s plight. 

Well. There were worse ways to get everyone congregated at the center of the city. Gosalyn checked the stone clock fixed atop the building, smiling as she read the hour. Right on time. Not that she wouldn’t take credit for her incredible timing, but to say she had planned it from the beginning really would have been something.

“Then again,” she said, crossing the street with the others, “I’m sure a phone call couldn’t hurt. Don’t want to miss out on Duckburg history!” 

“That’s the spirit, Gos!” Launchpad grinned at her. But not as brightly as he smiled at Webbie. Stupid perfect Webbie. Gosalyn despised her more and more with each passing block. She would all but shove the perky blond into City Hall if she could help it. Right into the line of action… 

_Calm down_. She wasn’t supposed to know about any of this. Gosalyn had to act surprised. But Webbie might become a living shield for her if things took a turn for the worse. And with four of the Fearsome Five, you never really knew how things were gonna go.

City Hall was as impressive on the interior as it was from the exterior. The rounded building was constructed out of marble, the ceilings curving upwards to nearly impossible heights. The foyer, where the group wandered into, gave the visitor a taste of the building’s magnitude, with three floors glimpsed between large marble pillars lining the outer edge of the room. The most impressive feature, though, was the grand staircase that descended straight down the center of the chamber, gracefully pooling out into rounded steps to form a small amphitheater in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the day. 

Gosalyn’s eyebrows rose in surprise when she saw a press conference crowding those rounded stairs, a podium set atop the highest of the curved steps. Reporters were congested into a semicircle, crying out questions only to fall into silence and listen to the answer from the exalted speaker. His voice echoed around the open airy space easily; no microphone was necessary. 

“It seems the Beagle Boys were after the Ancient Greek exhibit that’s in town. They had a list of some of the more valuable artifacts amongst the collection…” 

They did? Hadn’t Gosalyn researched the Ancient Greek exhibit to see which pieces were the most valuable while Negaduck copied blueprints of the building? She’d given him the list, which he said he would give to one of his henchmen to hang onto. Whoever had been in charge of the list clearly hadn’t hung onto it hard enough if the Beagle Boys — whoever they were — had gotten their grubby paws on it.  

“That double-crossing defender of Duckburg!” Darkwing hissed, snapping Gosalyn out of her thoughts. “He stole my heist! That attempted burglary was clearly the work of Negaduck, Megavolt, and Quackerjack, but noooo. This conceited so-called ‘hero’ says it’s the Beagle Boys and no one thinks to check the facts…” Her heist temporarily forgotten, Gosalyn studied her father whose bill was clenched tightly, his hands balled into fists.

Gizmoduck tended to have that affect on people. Namely, on Darkwing and Negaduck. Their beaks turned downwards in the same harsh frown, their eyes narrowing into identical dangerous slits as their muscles tensed. Have them switch costumes and you wouldn’t be able to tell who was who, their loathing was so great for this superman of heroes. 

“Really, Mr. Darkwing, how could you have stopped the Beagle Boys?” Webbie asked, clearly on Gizmoduck’s side. Gosalyn couldn’t hide her grin if she tried; this was something Webbie could not excel in. The Darkwing vs. Gizmoduck argument was legendary and Gosalyn knew where she and Launchpad stood. Webbie would earn no points defending the metal encased hero.

“You weren’t even in town then,” Webbie continued. “Should we go see…?” 

“We shouldn't _see_ anything,” Darkwing barked, jolting away from Webbie when she reached to take his arm. “I’m staying right here to see how arrogant this guy is, taking credit for something that clearly wasn’t his to take.” 

“Come on, DW,” Launchpad pleaded, distressed over his friend’s anger. “Maybe we should go tour…” 

“I’m with Dad,” Gosalyn said, crossing her arms and standing firm. “We stay right here and learn all we can about the caper so we can get ahead of this crime wave.” 

Darkwing sent her a look full of gratitude and she nudged him playfully, informing him that she would always be on his side. A smile lit his beak momentarily before he turned to glare up at his competition. Considering all that was about to happen, this was the least Gosalyn could do. These moments of unity would sustain her father when they were at odds. Or apart. Whatever came first. Knowing them, Gosalyn would not be surprised if they started a fight before they would inevitably get separated.

Speaking of which… 

She took her time observing the area in which she stood, going through the plan in her head. The revolving front door. Perhaps not totally conducive for a quick get away, but it was better than an automatic sliding door. The multitude of archways that surrounded the room, allowing for escapes. And the straight grandiose staircase, eventually leading to a more subtle exit through the employee entrance in the back of the building. Each of the front doors and side entrances were effortlessly open and ready for quick escapes. The room was large, there were more than enough people here… Gosalyn shouldn’t have any issues on her side of the plan at all. 

But where were they? Surely it was time to get this thing started.

“Yes, the Beagle Boys were apprehended successfully…” 

“Thanks to you, Gizmoduck!” said some reporter from the audience. Everyone released a chuckle as Gizmoduck waved away the compliment. 

“Now, now. There are many involved and I would hate to have them overlooked just because I was the one to answer the call of justice.”

Darkwing ground his teeth together as he shook his head. Huey, Dewey, Louie, and Webbie watched Gizmoduck, completely focused on him and unaware of how negatively the hero duck was affecting their guest. And poor Launchpad was stuck in between his old friends and new, glancing back and forth and trying so hard to come up with some way to make this all right for everyone. 

“I also have to thank the police who arrived on the scene. If I didn’t have their backup, I wouldn’t have been able to run in and leave the outside unguarded. I also have to thank Mr. McDuck, my benefactor, for his continued support. And Gyro Gearloose, who constructs and upkeeps my Gizmosuit. I have to take a moment and thank the citizens of Duckburg as well; without their loyalty, I could not be half as successful. I like to think of everyone as a hero for their dedication as I try to keep the city safe for them. … Oh! I can’t forget…” 

Gizmoduck’s speech was startlingly cut short as a taser gun was fired from somewhere in the crowd, zapping the hero and knocking him unconscious. If Gizmoduck’s strangled cries of electrocution were not enough to alert the media that something was amiss, the crash of the hero falling to the floor in a big metal heap certainly was. 

Before anyone could move, a deep baritone cut through the room like a knife. “Me, Negaduck, his most hated enemy, for making his success against those Beagle imbeciles even a remote possibility.” 

Relief washed over Gosalyn as she turned with the crowd to face Negaduck, who was standing in one of the archways, chainsaw in hand and a smirk on his beak as he surveyed the multitude before him. 

“I _knew_ it!” Darkwing cried, triumphant.


	5. Slipping

Negaduck sneered at Darkwing, dropping his taser gun and exchanging it for a small handgun from his cape.

“Shut it, Dipwing,” he snarled. Pointing the gun at Scrooge’s nephews, Negaduck sauntered over to the podium, swinging his chainsaw jubilantly as he ascended the stairs. 

“So good of you all to meet here. And on time, too.” Negaduck used the still unconscious Gizmoduck as a step stool, jumping onto the hero and turning to face the crowd. Setting his chainsaw against the podium, he waved his handgun around distractedly, the weapon helping to keep order.

“Good afternoon, Duckburg,” he started, looking straight at the news cameras and smirking when he saw the reporters starting to take notes. “As I mentioned, I am Negaduck from the great city of St. Canard. My associates and myself could not help but notice the great offerings your city has, and have decided to vacation here to take advantage of everything you provide your travelers. We plan on visiting a few banks to make some deposits, touring a few art exhibits, and generally seeing what sort of havoc we can wreak upon the city. Now, are there any questions?” 

A reporter tentatively raised her hand and Negaduck pointed his gun at her by way of indicating she had permission to speak. Gulping, she asked, “W-we?” 

“Silly me. I almost forgot.” He shook his head in mock dismay. “Oh, boys!” 

Bushroot and Liquidator descended the grand staircase, taking position on either side of Negaduck. Quackerjack and Megavolt appeared from behind the pillars on the first floor, standing on the bottom of the curved steps. Each of the villains held some sort of gun. While they didn’t point them at anyone in particular, their presence was felt and the reporters grouped into a tighter clump. As if they might not be as great a target if they were condensed together. 

“My associates: Bushroot, Liquidator, Quackerjack, and Megavolt. You may call us the Fearsome Five. While we’re here, it will be best to just leave us to our own business. Because if _anyone_ calls the police or those good for nothing heroes… Well. Let’s just say it won’t end well for anyone involved.” Negaduck motioned to the still unconscious Gizmoduck by way of an example. The Fearsome Four cocked and aimed their guns into the crowd to further emphasize their point, causing a few screams to erupt from the cluster. 

“Any more questions?” Negaduck growled.

With the weapons still trained on them, the reporters couldn’t string coherent sentences together, never mind questioning the Fearsome Five on their intentions or specified schedule.

Gosalyn glanced over at her companions, pleased to see Webbie and the boys cowering in fear. Launchpad had a determined look on his face and Darkwing… Where was he? He’d been standing beside her a second ago. Glancing around hurriedly, she saw no sign of her father. Oh, great.

Catching Negaduck’s eye, she shrugged minutely. His eyes glinted dangerously as he realized Darkwing was nowhere to be found. Even though this wasn’t supposed to be happening, Darkwing was gonna do what Darkwing was gonna do. And with Gizmoduck currently indisposed, Gosalyn didn’t mind giving Duckburg a sliver of hope in the form of her father. Just as long as it was only a sliver and not a whole tree. There would be time for heroics later. 

A cloud of blue smoke erupted at the top of the staircase. “I am the terror that flaps in the night!”

Or, you know, there was time for heroics now.  

Negaduck growled, training his gun on Launchpad while Bushroot and Liquidator turned and aimed their guns on Darkwing’s dissipating smoke. Megavolt and Quackerjack groaned but kept their eyes and weapons on the crowd before them. The reporters, not familiar with Darkwing, assumed he was another villain and a few released more screams.

“I am the federal holiday that keeps businesses closed for an extended weekend! I am Darkwiiiiiiing Duck!” Darkwing appeared, swishing his cape dramatically. He glared down at the Fearsome Five. 

“I expected you to jump to the heroics five minutes ago, Dorkwing,” Negaduck lied. “Make one move, and I’ll dispose of your trusty sidekick.” 

“I knew you were planning something, Negaduck!” Darkwing growled. He scoured the crowd for Gosalyn, sending her hand signals that she ought to infiltrate the crowd and take Negaduck by surprise. Rolling her eyes — this was _so_ not according to plan — she inched her way towards the crowd of reporters, sending Negaduck a look of apology when his eyes flitted over to her. 

Sneering, Negaduck said, “Anyone could’ve figured out we were in town. It’s not something you need to be praised for.” 

“Oh, but it is!” Darkwing cried triumphantly, making sure the cameras were focused on him. Gosalyn was surprised her father’s hat still fit with his head getting so big. “I came to town to stop the Fearsome Five from terrorizing this fair city! I knew this was going to happen when no one else did.” 

“Hooray for you,” Negaduck intoned, rolling his eyes skyward. “If you don’t mind, I’m in the middle of taking over the city…” 

“Not on my watch, Negaduck!” Darkwing cried, running towards his diabolical double.

Bushroot and Liquidator glanced toward one another, unsure of what to do, but they didn’t need to worry. Darkwing tripped halfway down the stairs, tumbling straight into Negaduck. Grunting at the impact, Negaduck fell into the podium, knocking it over and pulling the trigger of the gun still in his grasp. The explosion echoed around the room, causing chaos to erupt with it. People ran anywhere they could as long as it was away from Negaduck and his cronies. Gosalyn, in the midst of the confusion, used the crowd to slink away behind a marble pillar, watching the scene unfold. She still needed to be kidnapped, but with the plan already going awry, she wanted to find an alternative route to the street in front of City Hall. Just in case.

Negaduck wrestled with Darkwing, dropping his weapon in the scuffle as the Fearsome Four looked at one another, unsure how to proceed.

“Don’t just stand there like ninnies!” Negaduck cried. “Do something!” 

And do something they did. Quackerjack and Megavolt ran straight into the crowd. Maybe to try and get order again? Gosalyn wasn’t sure. Bushroot and Liquidator dropped their weapons and ran for Darkwing, grabbing him and dragging the hero backwards. Seeing this, Launchpad, Dewey, and Huey ran towards Darkwing to help, knocking aside reporters and jostling cameramen. Louie and Webbie, in the meantime, ushered people through any doors, yelling at everyone to get to safety. 

Gosalyn had to admit, Scrooge’s nephews and niece knew how to handle a stressful situation. But, how would they handle the Fearsome Four? With all of the kids taking an active part and showing their loyalties lie with Darkwing, they had made themselves targets. Megavolt and Quackerjack changed whatever tactic they’d had and made a beeline for Webbie and Louie, who ran off in different directions. Liquidator and Bushroot dropped Darkwing as if his feathers had scalded them, each snarling at Huey and Dewey as they chased them off into some other part of the building. 

“You knobs!” Negaduck yelled, attempting to chase after at least one of them, but got distracted by Launchpad, who was heading straight for him. Unable to avoid the pilot, Negaduck dropped to the floor, tucking himself into a ball. His tactic worked: Launchpad had too much momentum to stop and tripped over the villain, crashing right into Darkwing who had been midair, aiming for his nemesis.

Using the distraction, Negaduck jumped up. He glanced around the foyer and loosed a low growl when he saw it empty of not only the reporters, but his henchmen. With a swish of his cape, he leapt over the tangled heap that was Launchpad and Darkwing, bolting up the stairs and presumably heading for the employee entrance.

At least that was going as planned, Gosalyn reasoned. She was still taking refuge behind her pillar, waiting to ensure the hall was completely empty before she made her way out front. 

“Come on, LP!” Darkwing cried, slipping out from under the pilot and following Negaduck. “There’s not a moment to lose!” 

“Right behind ya, DW!” Launchpad rotated his shoulders as he stood, probably having injured them in his fall, and leapt after Darkwing.

Well, that had been a mess. 

Gosalyn stood to emerge, but quickly tucked herself away more securely when she noticed movement across the room.

A lens poked out from behind a pillar across from her. Some reporter had gotten the entire fight on camera. Not wanting to be discovered alone slinking into the foyer after the fight, Gosalyn dug through her pockets for anything that might be of use. Why didn’t she have her quiver and bow? It would have been so useful. She could use a plunger arrow to cover the camera lens then pin the news reporter to the wall with her other arrows while she made her escape… 

Her gaze fell upon a small clutter of toys nearby. A set of jacks, a baseball, and a pair of Quackerjack’s windup teeth. Gosalyn rolled her eyes. Honestly, couldn’t Quackerjack go anywhere without toys stuffed in his pockets? 

Hold on. A baseball. She hadn’t been made third base on the school softball team for nothing. 

Grabbing the toys, she peered around the pillar, seeing the cameraman running up the stairs. Probably hoping to get more footage of Darkwing and Negaduck fighting. Not today, pal. Taking aim, Gosalyn lobbed the baseball at the cameraman, pleased when it hit her target. She was less pleased with the sickening crash as he fell down the stairs, dropping his camera and hitting his head on the marble. 

Not wanting to stick around in case he saw her, nor to see if she’d done any permanent damage, Gosalyn ran for the front door. That had to have been enough time, surely, for Negaduck to make it down to the employee entrance and jump on his motorcycle. He was probably circling the building right now, planning on grabbing her off the street like they’d planned. 

Pushing through the revolving door, Gosalyn came to a halt as her eyes fell upon police squad cars parked out front of the hall, a group of police officers standing behind them. All of officers pointed their weapons at Gosalyn as she stepped into the sunlight. Her heart hammered loudly in her chest, her breath hitching slightly as she began to raise her hands. 

“Hold your fire!” Scrooge McDuck barked, emerging from behind one of the police cars. “Over here, lass!” He waved Gosalyn over.

She hesitated.

There was still enough room for Negaduck to zip in front of the police on his motorcycle, but would he risk it? He would have to. There wasn’t enough time for him to second guess himself; the corner he would be turning around at any moment was too close to the police barricade for him to escape. He’d just have to barrel through the barricade whether he kidnapped Gosalyn or not.

Provided he made it to his motorcycle at all. The way this day was going, Gosalyn wouldn’t be surprised if Negaduck somehow couldn’t kidnap her and they would have to find some nondescript way to communicate for the next few days. What a chore this was going to be. 

Still, she wanted to give the villain time. Maybe he was just running late. But it wasn’t like she could sit in the middle of the street and wait for him.

Thinking quickly, Gosalyn pinched her face into an expression of fear, pointing back inside City Hall. “Gizmoduck!” she cried. “He’s unconscious!” 

“We’ll help him soon enough,” Scrooge called. “Get yourself to safety first!” 

And what could she say to that? ‘No, I’m good’? Or ‘I’d rather wait here, thanks’? Fat chance.

Well, nothing else had gone according to plan, she might as well admit defeat, go with Scrooge, and find a way to communicate with Negaduck later. 

She ran towards Scrooge and glanced down the street, wishing Negaduck’s motorcycle was rounding that corner to whisk her away.

And it was. The yellow and black motorcycle roared loudly as Negaduck cut the street corner wide. Relieved, Gosalyn ran straight into the road just in time for Negaduck to grab her around the waist and hoist her onto the bike.

“At least one thing went right,” Negaduck growled, settling Gosalyn in front of him on the motorcycle.

“What _happened_?” Gosalyn asked as she rearranged herself slightly, riding the motorcycle sidesaddle.

“I don’t like this anymore than you do!” Negaduck took an abrupt turn as police sirens blared, Gosalyn grabbing ahold of his waist so she wouldn’t fall off.

“Do you know how awkward it was to stand around and wait for you to kidnap me?” Gosalyn asked, frustrated with their failure and taking it out on Negaduck.

“Isn’t there a phrase about it being better to be late than never?” He asked, returning the favor and releasing his anger on her.

“Oh, yeah. You’re right. There’s also a phrase that goes, ‘don’t be late’!” She gripped Negaduck tighter as he cut through an alley, taking his turn a little too close.

“Where are the others?” she asked. Not that she expected the Fearsome Four to be following Negaduck after the mess of a heist at City Hall, but it would have been nice to have a barrier between the police and them. As they’d planned.

“Bolted. Those knobs. When I get my hands on them…” 

Gosalyn never figured out what Negaduck planned on doing. The police cars quickly and suddenly gained on them, their motors revving as they got closer. 

“Stop driving like a girl,” Gosalyn cried. 

“ _You’re_ a girl!” Negaduck roared, desperation creeping into his ice blue eyes as the police got close enough as to nearly bump his rear tire. “Isn’t driving like a girl a compliment coming from you?” 

Gosalyn shook her head before realizing she was still clutching Quackerjack’s discarded toys. Not that they would do much against racing police cars, but Gosalyn wound up the teeth anyway. Better than leaving their escape to Negaduck’s driving.

Tossing the chattering teeth backwards, she grinned when they gripped onto one of the car’s tires and punctured a hole in the rubber. The officer swerved to avoid wrecking, quickly losing control of the vehicle, and crashed into the other cars around him. One ran into a fire hydrant, another flipped over, landing on its side and skidding down the street, sparks flying as the metal scraped against the asphalt. The final car braked hard, the squealing tires and smoke adding to the chaos, but it managed to come to a complete stop before reaching the wreckage caused by the other two. 

Negaduck glanced over his shoulder, eyebrows raising when he saw the cars totaled.

“You’re welcome,” Gosalyn offered. 

Negaduck rolled his eyes. He braked suddenly, turning his motorcycle 90 degrees, and raced down another alleyway, causing Gosalyn’s smug grin to all but fall off her face while she hung onto the villain for dear life.

“You exhaust me,” she said, looking up in time to see something like a smile ghost over Negaduck’s beak as he sped through Duckburg towards the Fearsome Five’s hideout. 


	6. Dare You to Move

“You have no idea how exhausting destroying things really is,” Negaduck sighed as he lowered himself into his customary easy chair.

Gosalyn sent him a look of derision, which he missed since he’d closed his eyes in relaxation. Clearly, a less subtle sign of aggravation was needed. She stood and grabbed a vase from Negaduck’s heap of stolen Duckburg goods. 

And dropped it. 

The art piece shattered into smaller shards, scattering all along the hardwood floor. Negaduck’s eyes sprang open, quickly taking in the scene. 

Gosalyn massaged her wrist. “You’re so right. Whew! I need a nap now.” 

“You broke my priceless vase,” he growled, his eyes rising to hers.

Gosalyn shrugged.

“You broke my priceless vase I stole from the Duckburg Art Expo.” 

Gosalyn turned on her heel, walking towards the kitchen. “Hope you got a receipt. Oh, wait.” She stopped her progress, sent him the look of derision he _should_ have seen the first time, then slid into a seat at the dining table.

Negaduck looked between the vase and Gosalyn, unsure of how to proceed. Gosalyn, however, began attempting to make sense of the pile of scrap papers Negaduck threw on the table as ideas occurred to him. Ideas such as “Quackerjack rob toy factory — taunt Darkwing”, “Bushroot and Liquidator take over water and landscaping companies in city — taunt Darkwing”, “Megavolt do… something — taunt Darkwing” had been scrawled onto any piece of paper Negaduck could get his feathered fingers on, only to be flung unceremoniously onto their work table to be discussed, negotiated, and planned out thoroughly.

What had recently dominated their time, now that the next two weeks were thoroughly planned out, was detailing her rescue. It was harder to get Darkwing to do what she wanted when Gosalyn was holed up in Negaduck’s penthouse apartment, and she had been unsure how to proceed. Negaduck, however, had been manipulating Darkwing from afar for years and offered some pointers when it came to dealing with the caped crusader. Most of the rescue details were ironed out and now that Negaduck had regained control of the Fearsome Four — commandeering the recently opened apartment complex as their hideout had really calmed them down — Gosalyn and Negaduck were confident that no other failures like the one at City Hall would befall them.

“Seems I underestimated you, Quiverwing,” Negaduck said, breaking the silence.

Gosalyn glanced back at the villain. She could have sworn she heard humor in his voice. But that was crazy. Sure, Negaduck was as happy as he could get, pleased he’d managed to steal a tidy pile of valuables from Duckburg. But happy? With something _she_ had done? No way.

Gosalyn continued to work on their plans and finalized details while Negaduck lounged in his armchair. A pretty typical evening. 

“I’ve been wondering something,” Negaduck said after he’d gotten up and closed the curtains to block out the setting sun, which inconveniently blazed directly into their living space each night. Gosalyn looked up at him, allowing the question. 

He inhaled before asking in a rush, “What are you to Darkwing?” 

“Here we go.” Gosalyn rolled her eyes.

“Other than his partner,” Negaduck added.

Gosalyn studied Negaduck for a moment, unsure if she wanted to have this conversation. She’d been running around with her father on cases since he’d adopted her. The Fearsome Five had grown used to seeing her and yet, somehow, had never made the connection that the two were related. Which was for the best, really. As a regular child who was merely interested in Darkwing, she’d become the target of the villains in order to blackmail and control the hero. Finding out that they were related, that Gosalyn meant more to Darkwing than anything else in the world, would have escalated things very quickly.

Is that what Negaduck wanted to know? If they were related? Had he finally figured it out? And why was he choosing this time, when they didn’t totally hate each other and were sort of even working towards the same goal, to ask her? He was more manipulative than she’d thought.

Why not answer Negaduck? Two could play at this game.

“I'm not so much his partner as I’m his hero in training,” Gosalyn finally said. Better to start with the truth and then add lies on top of that. It would make the falsehoods seem real.

Negaduck shook his head. She’d misunderstood him if the frustration furrowing his brow was anything to go by. “But what are you to him when you’re not on cases? Those moments in between?” 

Gosalyn raised an eyebrow. “What’s the question you really want to ask me?” 

Negaduck observed her, eyes roving over her face carefully as he considered his response. Feeling confident that she’d won and that Negaduck was going to change the subject rather than open up to her, she looked back down at the notes, separating them into their designated piles.

“Your name’s Gosalyn, isn’t it?” Negaduck asked.

Freezing with her hand outstretched as she reached to place a note with its partners, she looked up at him. “No,” she shot off quickly. Too quickly. Her surprise had given her away. How did he _know_? All these years… How _much_ did he know?

“Do you work for him?” he pressed, coming over and placing his palms on the table. “When you guys are home with no crimes to solve and are in that little house on Avian Way…”

Her stomach dropped. “You’re freaking me out.”

“...and the Muddlefoots are out of town…” 

“How do you _know_ all of this?” she cried, dropping the papers and jumping up from her chair, no longer afraid of giving away information. He clearly knew it all.

Her sudden movement startled him, had made him stand up straight. He regarded her from across the table, his beak opening and closing as if looking for the words, anxious about getting them right. Gosalyn’s heart hammered painfully in her chest. _Negaduck_ anxious? Holy cats, what sort of situation had she gotten herself into?

“Has Darkwing ever mentioned the Negaverse?” he asked.

Confusion pushed out her fear. “The what?”

The familiar mask of irritated indifference slipped back over Negaduck’s face, making Gosalyn realize that he’d been looking at her with no malice or intimidation anywhere in his expression. “Forget I asked anything,” he grumbled.

Anger boiled over Gosalyn’s curiosity. She had always been more of the fight rather than flight type. “I can’t just _forget_ that you somehow know about the Mudlefoots, where we live, and my name.” 

“Let it go, kid,” Negaduck growled, stalking up the winding staircase that led to his bedroom.

Gosalyn grabbed his cape, tugging at it to prevent his exit. “We’re so past that,” she growled right back, her tone matching his. Maybe that’s what caused him to look down at her, maybe it was her next words. She never knew.  “Go ahead. Ask me what you want.” She said it like a dare on purpose. Negaduck couldn’t decline any sort of challenge.

Crossing his arms and taking the bait, Negaduck asked, “What is your relationship with Darkwing?” 

“I bet you already know.” She dropped his cape and put her hands on her hips. “You magically know everything else! What does it matter that I tell you what we are?”

“I can guarantee that what I have in mind for the two of you is not the relationship you have.” 

Gosalyn’s beak turned down in a frown as her face scrunched up. “Oh, gross. Do you think we’re a _couple_?”

“No!” Negaduck sounded equally as revolted.

“Then, tell me,” she said, her curiosity and dominance coming to the forefront. “What do you think I am to Darkwing?” 

“I don’t know!” he said, frustrated. “That’s why I’m asking you!” 

“You have some idea. What do you think we are?” 

“Stop.” His voice was dangerously low.

“What do you think we are?” Gosalyn pressed.

“I said stop,” he snarled, pushing past her roughly. He walked to the front door and pulled it open.

“If you're just gonna walk away, then what was the point of all of that?” Gosalyn yelled, knowing this was her last chance to figure out what the hell was going on. “Why do you need to know any of this?”

“I have to figure out where I went wrong!” Negaduck roared, eyes blazing as he glared at her. The fury poured off him in almost palpable waves, but Gosalyn wasn’t afraid. If anything, his anger calmed her down.

So _that’s_ what had been bothering him.

“You had someone…” 

“Oh, here we go,” Negaduck said, closing the door and locking it. Couldn’t have any of the Fearsome Four wandering in. Not now that Negaduck had made himself vulnerable. 

“I bet whoever this person was, they were like me. And you're like Darkwing.” She grinned at him. She didn’t mean to, but she’d figured out this little puzzle all on her own and she was proud of herself. “That's why you were asking. To see if our relationship was anything like yours was.” 

“Genius,” he griped. Scrubbing a hand over his face, he slowly trudged back to his chair and sat down. “So... Will you tell me now?” he asked, his eyes meeting hers. 

Gosalyn practically leapt over to the chair opposite him, resisting the urge to drag it closer to Negaduck’s. “What was this person to you?” 

“Oh, come on…” he groaned.

“Tell me this and I'll tell you mine.”

He couldn’t ignore that. An answer to his question. The one that had been eating him alive for whoever knew how many years. 

Negaduck rubbed his hands together nervously. “She worked for me,” he confessed, his voice tentative. “I gave her a roof over her head and she was my live-in maid.”

Nodding her approval, Gosalyn held up her end of the bargain. “Darkwing’s my father.” 

She wasn’t sure if it was entirely wise to admit that to her father’s most hated enemy, but he wasn’t her rival. She wasn’t even sure if they were enemies anymore. Everything was so upside down. 

“But I— _he_ hasn’t been in that serious a relationship,” Negaduck said, confusion painted thickly in his expression. Gosalyn hadn’t missed his slip of the tongue. Nor had she missed the conflicting yearning and revulsion that swirled in his eyes either.

“To have a child with someone…” Negaduck looked as if he might be sick.

Gosalyn shook her head. “I was an orphan.” 

Negaduck gazed at her in awe. Everything had just fallen into place for him. Finally knowing the answer to his question, relief cascaded down his features. “He _adopted_ you.” 

Gosalyn nodded, allowing Negaduck to look at her as the silence wrapped around them. She didn’t know why she let him observe her for so long without saying anything, but she understood that it was important not to break this moment now. To allow Negaduck to have whatever he was thinking without any interruption from her. 

When he finally looked away, she sighed. “Well, now you know everything. Though, I’m not convinced you didn't already know everything anyway.” She raised an eyebrow in his direction. He rolled his eyes in return, standing and making his way up to his bedroom.

“How long have you known my name is Gosalyn?” she asked, unable to contain herself. He paused halfway up the spiral staircase, looking down at her.

“Can I stop calling you Quiverwing?” His tone was full of sarcasm, his expression darkened in a small scowl. He was attempting normalcy again. Trying to get back to the way they were before the truth about one another had been discovered. Gosalyn didn’t mind setting up a new normal with Negaduck, but they could never go back to whatever they had been before. They were more than that now. Maybe friends? No, not friends. But not enemies, either. 

“Do you _want_ to stop calling me Quiverwing?” she asked softly, allowing him the decision. She didn’t care, either way, if he called her by her given name or her heroic one. They symbolized two entirely different relationships, and she was willing to let him decide where they stood now.

Unable to make a decision, and looking supremely uncomfortable, Negaduck growled low in his throat before ascending the stairs and slamming his bedroom door shut.

Gosalyn remained in her chair for some time after, watching the sun set. Tomorrow they would lead Darkwing to the Fearsome Five’s hideout, “capturing” him and then letting him escape with Gosalyn in tow. It was appropriate for her and Negaduck’s final evening together to be sort of therapeutic in a way. To trust each other with more information than before.

If nothing else, Negaduck would always know that Gosalyn and Darkwing were related by more than just heroics. That would make him happier; the knowledge gave him power over Darkwing. Something he could never have enough of.


	7. Tomorrow Belongs to Me

Harsh jiggling of the front door’s knob caused Gosalyn to emerge from her room. Creeping into the hallway, she slunk towards the front door as the doorbell resounded throughout the penthouse not once, but three consecutive times. Heart pounding, she inched her way towards the front door, desperate not to be heard.

The door was locked; whoever was on the other side wasn’t getting in. Negaduck was gone, lulling Darkwing to the hideout. There was one rule when Negaduck left Gosalyn alone in the apartment: never let anyone in. That, and never ever leave. So, two rules, really. But the first was the one she was currently focusing on.

“Negaduck!” came a voice from the other side of the door, accompanied by a few more rings of the doorbell. Gosalyn leaned against the wooden surface, pressing her ear to it. She knew that voice. Why did Megavolt want to talk to Negaduck?

“Negaduck, are you home?” came Bushroot’s tentative tone.

“We really need to talk to you!” Quackerjack’s sing-song voice was next. Even though she couldn’t hear him, Gosalyn was willing to bet all she had that Liquidator was with the others. The Fearsome Four in their entirety. This was quite an event. 

Gosalyn was impressed they had managed to find Negaduck’s apartment. None of them had specified which apartment they’d be inhabiting within the complex. Each villain had been given three floors each, and they were able to decide how each floor was run and where they lived from there. That these four imbeciles had accurately picked Negaduck’s home from his three floors worth of apartments was almost miraculous. 

That or Negaduck was more predictable than he thought.

No, this was a miracle. 

“Told you he wasn’t home,” Quackerjack jeered. 

“Maybe we should to knock on all the other apartment doors again? Make sure he didn’t come home in the meantime. He could have returned while we were on another floor…” Bushroot blabbered. 

“Calm down. He’s not here,” Quackerjack said. The voices were growing fainter. Not that listening through wood was exactly the best way to snoop on a conversation, but the voices were definitely leaving. With their owners. Gosalyn threw caution to the wind and stood slowly, glancing through the peep hole in the door. There they were, the Fearsome Four, walking down the hall towards the elevator. 

Curious and unable to sate it, Gosalyn unlocked the door silently and slipped into the hallway. So much for Negaduck’s second rule. But Gosalyn had never been much for rules. The Fearsome Four didn’t turn around or even pause in conversation, so confident were they that they were alone in the apartment building. 

“…he’ll be in for a little surprise when he comes back,” Megavolt said, electricity dancing around his fingertips.

“I still don’t know…” Bushroot whined, tugging at his hair.

“We can’t delay, we have to act now!” Liquidator said. 

“He’s right. It’s today or never.” Quackerjack said, pushing the down button for the elevator. 

Gosalyn pressed herself against the nearest wall, out of sight of the elevator lobby, and listened while trying to keep her breathing steady and silent. 

“Let Negaduck go back to St. Canard. He was always the master villain over there, anyway. Duckburg needs villainous leadership and they’ll get it through us,” Quackerjack said. 

Even as a cohesive group, they had a leader. And it was the crazy clown toy maker. They were doomed. Never mind that they were planning on going up against Negaduck, they wouldn’t survive a single day working together. Gosalyn gave them an hour before they crumpled into an argument and looked to Negaduck for leadership once more.

“Liquidator, you have our hostages secured?” Quackerjack asked.

Hostages? They had kidnapped people? That wasn’t supposed to have happened. Gosalyn was supposed to have been the only kidnapping victim in the whole city. What had the Fearsome Four _done_? 

“Tightly bound and ready to go!” Liquidator assured as the elevator arrived with a ding.

“Once Negaduck returns, we send him packing to St. Canard. Then we go on camera with those kids and demand Scrooge’s cooperation. With him in our hands, the city—” 

The voices stopped. 

They knew. 

They somehow knew she was listening in. 

Gosalyn’s heart hammered painfully in her chest as she glanced around her. No feasible escape. The only way out was to run back into the penthouse. She was seconds away from bolting down the hallway before the Fearsome Four rounded the corner and revealed her eavesdropping when she realized the silence didn’t necessarily mean they’d heard her. It meant they’d gone down in the elevator. Right? 

Inching down the rest of the hall, Gosalyn tried to swallow the bile rising in the back of her throat but couldn’t find the saliva to help. Taking in a deep breath, she peered around the corner into the elevator lobby.

Empty.

Releasing her breath in a whoosh, she collapsed on the floor, her muscles exhausted from the tension they’d been holding. 

She had to tell Negaduck what the Fearsome Four had done. And what they were planning. Negaduck’s and her escape plan was in jeopardy… But he wasn’t coming back for another caper planning night with her. They didn’t have any other way of communicating with one another. Negaduck was, at this very moment, leading her father here to help her “escape.” Negaduck had no idea he was walking into a trap. 

Jumping up, Gosalyn galloped back to the penthouse, locking the door behind her as she tried to center her thoughts and figure out some way to inform Negaduck that everything had been compromised. 

She began to pace when she noticed the door leading out onto the veranda was opening slowly. Leaping behind Negaduck’s armchair, Gosalyn peered around the piece of furniture, her heart pounding once more. That door, like the front door, was always kept locked. 

Someone was breaking in.

Why did everything have to fall apart just as it was coming together?

 


	8. Build a Wall

Eyes trained on the slowly opening door, Gosalyn positioned herself to spring into attack. Whoever was dumb enough to try and break into the Fearsome Five’s apartment complex deserved to get kicked in the face. Especially since they took all the time and effort to climb to the topmost floor and open the veranda door to the penthouse. They might even deserve several roundhouse kicks just for their arrogance. 

A familiar shadow, fedora settled on top and cape billowing out behind, stopped Gosalyn from her impending attack. Negaduck was an idiot. But a genius. What a way to bait Darkwing into getting into the complex: scaling the walls and sneaking into his own apartment. Maybe Gosalyn would kick Negaduck anyway, claiming she didn’t realize it was him, just for the fun of it. 

“Negaduck,” she breathed as she stood from behind the chair. Her next words were never to be reached, however, as the mallard looked at her with softer blue eyes, his beak turned down in a frown rather than a sneer, and his customary purple and blue colors clear as he stepped inside and into the light.

“Expecting someone else?” Darkwing quipped, closing the door behind him silently.

“N-no!” Gosalyn said, using her nerves to their advantage. If she played her cards right, she might just be able to pass this all off as intense relief rather than shocked desperation. “I-I was… Oh, Dad!” She ran toward him, throwing her arms around his neck as he pulled her tightly to his chest. 

“I’m so sorry I wasn’t able to get you out of here sooner. I tried, but…” He tightened his hold on her. “Are you all right?” 

“I’m fine.” Her world immediately fell back into place as soon as she was enveloped in her father’s arms. There was no Negaduck, no Fearsome Four possibly about to take over the city, no anything. Just the two of them in this moment, together. He’d always had this effect on her, even the first few days she knew him. Those initial moments in Darkwing Tower, she knew with everything in her that she was safe even while Taurus Bulba was actively trying to kidnap her. Where Darkwing was, that’s where Gosalyn would be safe, protected, and loved.

He was her home. And she was home now. 

“If Negaduck tried anything…” Darkwing snarled, effectively reminding Gosalyn of her current situation.

She needed to find the Prince of Darkness and tell him what the Fearsome Four were planning. Having her father present, way ahead of schedule, complicated matters, but she had to let Negaduck know. Warn him, somehow, so he wasn’t completely thrown off guard. 

“He _didn’t_ try anything did he?” Darkwing asked, his muscles tensing at the thought. He must have interpreted Gosalyn’s silence as an affirmative.

“No, no he didn’t do anything,” Gosalyn assured, squeezing him briefly.

Darkwing glanced down at Gosalyn, worry shadowing his eyes. “You mean that?” 

She smiled. “Yeah.” 

Detangling himself from her grip, he brought his hands to her shoulders. “Because you thought I was Negaduck when I broke in.” 

“Well, yeah,” Gosalyn said, shrugging. “It’s his hideout. I expect to see him here.” 

Eyeing her, Darkwing’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. “There’s something you’re not telling me.” He always knew when she was lying.

Gosalyn tried to remain calm. “No, there’s not.” 

“Gosalyn. You wouldn’t ever expect Negaduck to return, he would make his visits random to try and keep you on your toes. You better tell me what’s going on right now, young lady!” 

Young lady. He was serious. 

“I… I’ve been playing double agent,” Gosalyn heard herself say. Managing — but only just — to stop herself from slapping a hand over her beak, her mind reeled. A double agent? Really?

“What…?” 

“Against Negaduck,” she said, hoping her brain could catch up to what her beak was saying. “I’ve been getting him to trust me slowly since I’ve been here. He kidnapped me to try and understand what our relationship is and I gave him enough information to make him think that he has the upper hand.” 

She was all for putting some truth in her lies to make them sound all the more realistic, but this was cutting it a little too close.

“And what did you tell him?” Darkwing pressed, the suspicion lingering.

“That I was your hero in training.”

“Did he buy it?”

Gosalyn shrugged. “He only mentioned something called the Negaverse before he disappeared. Do you know what he meant by that?”

Darkwing brought up a hand, his fingers tapping his beak in concentration. “Why would he mention that?” 

“What is it?” Gosalyn pressed. It may have initially been used to distract her father, but now she was eager to learn about this Negaverse, whatever it was, that both Negaduck and Darkwing had witnessed.

“It’s a parallel universe to ours where Negaduck is in charge, a place were I have never existed. Everyone we know lives there but they are the opposite of who they are here.” Darkwing cracked a smile. “You should have seen your counterpart; she wore a pink dress, curled her hair, and was sickly sweet.”

Gosalyn scrunched her face in disgust, but realized why Negaduck had been so insistent in wanting to know the relationship between her and her father. 

Negaduck had not just had someone in his life who was _like_ Gosalyn, he’d had his own Gosalyn. He was more like her father than she’d realized. If Darkwing had lost his sense of self and become Darkwarrior Duck in her absence, then it was no wonder Negaduck had become so much more ruthless in the last few years. She had never pegged Negaduck as the sentimental type, but maybe she’d misjudged him.

“So that’s it?” Darkwing asked. “You’ve been trying to get Negaduck’s trust to take him down?” 

“Yes,” Gosalyn said, adding a little annoyance into her tone to really sell it. She withheld her eye roll; that would have been taking it too far. 

“Why didn’t you tell me? We could have worked together! I could have given you pointers! No one knows Negaduck as well as I do!” 

Understatement. 

Gosalyn shrugged. “I knew you’d never go through with it if I was involved.” 

“No, I wouldn’t have. It’s far too dangerous, even for the future hero of St. Canard! What were you thinking?” 

“I-I…” At a complete loss for words, Gosalyn sighed. “I don’t know. Sorry for lying to you.” And for not even telling you the whole truth. “I’ll consult you next time.” 

Darkwing’s beak curved upwards as he smiled softly at her. “I know you had the best intentions, Gos. Just don’t make a habit out of it.” 

Gosalyn nodded, returning her father’s smile.

“Isn’t this a pretty picture,” came a low growl from the front door. Gosalyn whirled around to face the door, wondering how much of their conversation Negaduck had overheard. Darkwing also turned to face Negaduck, pushing Gosalyn behind him. Old habits die hard. Peering around Darkwing’s form, Gosalyn caught the rage in Negaduck’s eyes and in his beak twisted into a snarl. He must have overheard most of their discussion. Great.

“Give it up, Negaduck,” Darkwing said. “Quiverwing told me everything about you two.” 

“Duh. I wanted her to, Dorkwing. Did you really think I would trust her? She works for you.” 

“ _With_ me.” 

“Whatever.” Negaduck rolled his eyes. “Enjoy this time together. The Fearsome Four won’t let you have anymore of these sweet moments.” With a swish of his cape, Negaduck took his leave, slamming the apartment door behind him. 

“That’s our cue. Launchpad is downstairs…” 

“I have to see if I can convince him that I was on his side.” Gosalyn moved to the front door, but Darkwing grabbed her arm.

“He heard everything, Gos.”

“No, I can save this! Maybe I can keep spying on Negaduck in the future…” 

“Gosalyn. It was a good idea, but it’s done. We need to go downstairs and meet up with Launchpad and Scrooge. The Fearsome Five not only kidnapped you, but Scrooge’s nephews and that Webbie girl. We have to go be the heroes now.” 

That’s who the Fearsome Four were talking about. Their kidnapped victims. Using Scrooge’s family against him. They were more clever than Gosalyn thought. Perhaps the Fearsome Four stood a chance, after all. 

Gosalyn nodded, mind already planning on how to take down the villainous quartet. “I need to get my Quiverwing outfit and arrows.” 

“It’s all in the Ratcatcher down in the parking garage. Get yourself situated then meet us in the foyer on the first floor.” 

“Sure thing.” 

Darkwing nodded and leaned forward to lightly kiss her forehead. “Be safe.” 

Gosalyn grabbed his hand and squeezed it. “You too.” He studied her for a moment before running out the front door, bolting for the staircase. Gosalyn headed for the elevators, pushing the button for the parking garage one she’d stepped inside.

The underground garage was deserted. Not seeing her father’s motorcycle, Gosalyn started wandering the garage, wondering where he could have parked it. Probably someplace unexpected, trying to keep it hidden in case any of the villains wandered down here. Always thinking ahead. And he was overly cautious. And totally paranoid.

An engine revving caused Gosalyn to jump, her eyes scanning every inch of the garage around her, but she was unable to locate the source of the noise with the monstrous echo off the surrounding concrete. Hoping someone hadn’t found her father’s bike, she began running toward where she thought the sound might have come from. Her sense of direction had never failed her, and it didn’t now.

As she rounded a corner, Negaduck’s motorcycle roared toward her, its driver as furious as the engine. 

Knowing — hoping, really — he wouldn’t hit her, Gosalyn stepped in the bike’s path and crossed her arms, waiting for Negaduck to come to a stop. 

He sneered at her and sped up. 

Her instincts told her to jump out of the way, to leap to safety, but she didn’t pay them any heed. Instead, she eyed Negaduck and stood her ground. 

Darkwing knew she’d come down here. If something did happen — and Negaduck seemed desperate enough that something _might_ happen — he would come looking for her eventually. She wasn’t alone. She was never alone.

Just as Darkwarrior Duck had done — and Gosalyn had always been more afraid of Darkwarrior than any other villain she’d encountered — Negaduck screeched to a halt at the last second, his bike leaving tire marks on the new concrete. Gosalyn didn’t break eye contact with the villain, causing him to look away first as he leapt off his bike and stalked towards her.

“What did you overhear?” Gosalyn asked, continuing to stand her ground even as Negaduck marched right up to her. She’d never seen him so livid, the anger contorting his face into a ferocious mask. 

“Enough,” he growled so low it sent a shiver down Gosalyn’s spine. Before she could explain herself, Negaduck pounced, smashing her onto the ground as his fingers wrapped around her throat.

“I should have known,” he said, his grip tightening as she struggled beneath his grip, “Darkwing’s daughter or no, you’ve always been a soppy do-gooder, fighting on the side of justice and what’s considered ‘right’. It’s my own fault, really, for considering you might work with me. But let me tell you something,” he leaned forward, his face inches from hers. “I won’t fall for it again.” 

Gosalyn tried to gasp for air as spots appeared in her line of vision.

“Screw you and screw Duckburg. I’m going back to St. Canard to wreak some real havoc while its heroes are sidetracked by those Fearsome imbeciles.” 

He released her. 

Gosalyn gasped wildly for air, coughing as oxygen re-entered her system. Negaduck must have climbed up onto his motorcycle again because the engine revved. Rolling onto her side, unsure if she should, or even could, stand right away, Gosalyn propped herself up on her elbow and caught sight of Negaduck glaring down at her. 

“I didn’t—” 

“Save it for someone who cares.” Revving his engine again, Negaduck peeled out of the garage, his tires squealing as exhaust poured out, leaving Gosalyn in its cloud. Wiping away the water pooling in her eyes from the fumes, Gosalyn coughed as she collapsed onto the ground again, waiting for her strength to return. 

Seriously. What a drama queen.

 


	9. Man Up

“Where have you been?” Darkwing snapped as Gosalyn, fully dressed in her Quiverwing costume, slipped into the main floor lobby where the Fearsome Four were using Webbie, Huey, Dewey, and Louie as shields against Darkwing, Launchpad, and Scrooge.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Some _genius_ decided to hide the Ratcatcher so I had to circle the parking garage three times before I found it!” Gosalyn hissed, ducking down behind a large plant and observing the situation.

“Don’t you take that tone with me,” Darkwing snapped, loading his gas gun with a canister. “It’s not my fault you didn’t remember the rule of hiding transportation.” 

“What rule?” Gosalyn challenged, nocking an arrow. “There’s no rule, you just made that up.” 

“There is most definitely a rule, you just refuse to pay attention Miss. I-think-I-know-everything-about-crime-fighting.” 

“Well, I _would_ know everything if a certain _someone_ didn’t make up rules all the time!” 

“My training is perfect. It’s not my fault some people just can’t handle it.” 

Gosalyn shrugged off the insult. “I could always transfer. I wonder if Gizmoduck is taking trainees.” 

Darkwing audibly gasped. “You take that back!” 

“Uh, guys?” Launchpad asked, looking over at the two of them. “Can we maybe save this argument for later?” 

“She just insulted me!” Darkwing whined. “You can’t expect me to take this lying down.” 

“Take it whatever way you want once my nephews and niece are safe!” Scrooge barked, sending Darkwing a glare.

“Okay, okay,” Gosalyn said. “Sheesh.” 

“Can’t even take banter seriously.” Darkwing shook his head. Gosalyn smirked at him before he winked in response. 

Darkwing shot his gas canister of blue smoke toward the villains as Gosalyn fired her arrow. A loud, grating whistle emitting from the fired arrow once it made contact with the ground. Unable to see or hear one another properly, the Fearsome Four scattered. Amid the confusion, Launchpad was able to vault over the plant behind which they had been taking refuge and grabbed the captive kids, guiding them over to Scrooge who ushered his family members outside.

The distractions now out of the way, Darkwing and Gosalyn leapt into action. Darkwing re-loaded his gas gun with a water balloon, taking aim and firing it at Megavolt, who short-circuited and collapsed on the floor as the smoke began to clear.

“Spread out!” Quackerjack cried, looking around the room for either of the heroes. 

Gosalyn, who had kept the set of jacks that had fallen out of Quackerjack’s pocket in City Hall a week ago, released them onto the floor, causing the deranged toy maker to trip and fall flat on his back.

Darkwing grabbed a handful of soil from the potted plant and stuffed it into his gun. The plant leaves came alive as he went to grab more soil, wrapping their tendrils around the hero. Darkwing dropped his weapon as he struggled against the plant. Grabbing hedge clippers from her utility belt, Gosalyn trimmed each of the leaves from the plant until it was nothing more than a stalk before she ran after Bushroot, brandishing the clippers. He unleashed a scream of terror before running around the room like a maniac. 

Now freed from Bushroot’s plant attack, Darkwing grabbed his gas gun once more, taking aim and firing the dirt at the advancing Liquidator. The villain tried to dodge the shot, but was unable to, reduced to a pile of mud on the floor rather than his customary puddle. 

Having effectively tied up Bushroot, Gosalyn deposited the half-plant half-duck with the other incapacitated villains, whom Launchpad was watching over. Liquidator was stuck in a trash bag and Megavolt still lie unconscious on the floor. Launchpad smiled at Gosalyn as she handed him some spare zip ties to bind Megavolt’s wrists and ankles together. 

“The police are on their way,” Scrooge said, walking back into the lobby and surveying the scene.

“Just enough time to capture our last villain,” Darkwing said, loading his gas gun again as he searched for the clown.

“Think again,” Quackerjack sneered, grabbing ahold of Gosalyn. He wrestled her bow from her hands before grabbing her wrists and forcing them behind her back. Pulling her against him, Quackerjack took shelter behind her, peering at Darkwing over Gosalyn’s shoulder.

“Your move, Darkwing.” 

Darkwing, who had taken aim at Quackerjack the moment he’d grabbed Gosalyn, hesitated. He locked his eyes with hers, inaudibly asking her what she wanted to do. Launchpad glanced between father and daughter, ready to spring into action. Quackerjack was outnumbered and could easily be taken down. Unless Gosalyn had no way of escaping.

She hadn’t been training for nothing. 

Raising her foot, she kicked Quackerjack's legs, causing him to collapse to the ground. Gosalyn wrestled herself free, Launchpad jumping in to help pull her away from the villain as Darkwing shot his laughing gas at Quackerjack. Darkwing, Launchpad, Gosalyn, and Scrooge all ducked outside the building, watching through the double glass doors for the gas to clear. Once it had, smiles were exchanged amongst the heroes as Quackerjack could be seen, rocking back and forth on the floor, reduced to a helpless pile of giggles. Launchpad ran back in and quickly tied up the remaining villain as the police pulled up.

“You’ll find the offenders in there, officers,” Scrooge said, indicating the pile of incapacitated villains in the apartment lobby. “They’re to be charged with all of the crimes that have been plaguing the city lately and with kidnapping my nephews and niece.” 

The officers filed in, a few staying outside with Scrooge and his family, getting statements. Launchpad re-emerged from the apartment complex, smiling at Gosalyn as he held out her Quiverwing bow.

“Not bad,” Darkwing admitted, smiling at her, too. She returned the smiles, sheathing her bow in her quiver with the remainder of her arrows.

“Never fear, Gizmoduck is here!” Gizmoduck exclaimed, rolling into the scene enthusiastically. Gosalyn, Darkwing, and Launchpad glanced amongst each other, unsure how to proceed.

Scrooge rolled his eyes and said something to the officer before walking over.

“My sensors picked up some altercations within this building. How can I be of assistance, Wingy?”

Before Darkwing could respond, Scrooge said,  “You’re about fifteen minutes too late!” He crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at the technological hero. “You’ve been useless this past week, trying to track down my family. Darkwing was able to pinpoint the hideout, infiltrate it, and defeat the villains on his own. Perhaps I’ll send you off to St. Canard to take some lessons from him.” 

Turning to Darkwing, Scrooge nodded. “I may have been skeptical at first, but I can see now that you do truly know what you’re doing. You, Launchpad, and Gosalyn are welcome back here at any time.” 

“Thanks ever so.” Darkwing removed his hat and bowed. When he straightened up again, Darkwing sent a look of superiority towards Gizmoduck, who was rolling away with Scrooge as the billionaire started talking about a new training routine. 

Despite all the setbacks, everything was happening as Gosalyn and Negaduck had planned.

Negaduck!

With everything settled here and her father not sidetracked with her being kidnapped, Gosalyn knew she had to try and locate the villain and explain everything to him. As happy as she was to have succeeded on her mission to Duckburg, she felt confident that she would drown in her massive waves of guilt. Negaduck had trusted her, had even started to open up to her, and she had not only made it look as though she’d betrayed him, but she’d let him leave. She should have followed him and never allowed him to go away before she explained everything. 

But she had. And she felt awful.

Perhaps there was still time. She could try to find him and explain herself. As long as he didn’t try and strangle her again. Hopefully he’d calmed down a little by now. Who was she kidding? Even if he hadn’t, she would still try to apologize.

Now, to come up with a reason to leave her father and Launchpad for an undisclosed amount of time… 

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, all in a day’s work for Darkwing Duck!” Darkwing said, smoothing his suit. Launchpad met Gosalyn’s eyes, shaking his head slightly as they followed the hero. Police cars crowding the street and the arrest of the Fearsome Four had, naturally, drawn a crowd and the group of cameras nearly sent Darkwing into a conniption. 

And, conveniently, gave Gosalyn her out.

“I’ll catch up with you and Dad later,” she whispered to Launchpad. “Maybe back at Mr. McDuck’s mansion?” 

“You don’t wanna talk to the press?” Launchpad asked. “You did as much as DW did.” 

“Nah. And, if it’s all the same, I’d rather not be around to see Dad’s media persona take over.” She glanced at Darkwing, seeing him walk towards the cameras dramatically, ensuring his cape billowed out behind him. Scrooge wasn’t far behind, telling the cameras and reporters that Darkwing had been essential in the capture of the Fearsome Four, blah, blah, blah. Webbie fawned all over Darkwing, grabbing onto his arm and thanking him over and over for saving her and the boys, saying they wouldn’t have gotten free, or even survived, if he hadn’t shown up. It made Gosalyn sick. 

“I understand,” Launchpad said, smiling. “I’ll let DW know once he realizes you’re gone.” 

“Depending on how the interview goes, his ego might not ever return to normal and he won’t even realize I’m gone.” 

“I don’t know about that.” Launchpad shook his head. “He took your capture pretty hard. I’ve never seen him work so much. Every bit of his rescue was planned out meticulously. He wouldn’t let Mr. McD or the police anywhere near the Fearsome Five’s hideout in case you were somehow in danger and a surprise attack would have made everything worse.” 

Gosalyn smiled. “He _is_ good at what he does. When his head isn’t so big.” She gestured to Darkwing, who was basking in the attention, his chest inflating more and more.

“Cover for me while I’m gone?” Gosalyn asked, looking back at Launchpad.

“I always do.” 

“And I’m so grateful.” Gosalyn rocked on her toes, kissing Launchpad on the cheek. He blushed but grinned as Gosalyn made her way down the street.

Gosalyn knew Negaduck well and he wouldn’t dare leave Duckburg without at least a little something to compensate his time here. 

Now, which was the fastest way to Scrooge’s money bin?

 


	10. Why God, Why?

It looked larger in pictures. He’d been expecting a towering building, monstrous enough to hold the riches of the wealthiest duck in history.

Now that he was here, though.

How underwhelming. 

Maybe some of it was underground. He hoped so; he hadn’t come all this way to steal less than a few thousand. Maybe a clean million if he could find the space for it in his motorcycle. Then again, if everything had happened as it was _supposed_ to have gone, a million wouldn’t have been something he was debating. He would have already stolen the goods, portions of his new wealth stealthily stashed away in his brainless henchmen’s belongings until they returned to St. Canard and he stole the money back.

He also would have had all the time he needed in which to steal his million, with Gosalyn working on the other side to keep everyone distracted. 

Now he figured he had about fifteen minutes, at most, from the time he dismounted his motorcycle until he left the building. That was not enough time for a million big ones. But a couple thousand was something he was coming to slowly appreciate. It was better than nothing, after all. To have traveled all the way to Duckburg, to put so much _effort_ into taking over the city, only to leave empty-handed and double-crossed… 

Negaduck shook his head, determined not to think about a certain traitorous red-head and her dimwitted father. He still couldn’t stomach that; Darkwing was a _father_. It was so obvious now that he knew. Darkwing’s concern for the girl through the years had always been sickening. It was a little embarrassing that he’d never figured it out. Darkwing had called Gosalyn by her real name several times, even though they had been trying to pass for acquaintances. And Gosalyn had probably called Darkwing “dad” when Negaduck had been distracted, her big green eyes trained on the duck who was identical to him.

But who was not him.

He needed to focus. Those few thousand bucks weren’t going to steal themselves. Scrooge had the top of the line security; Negaduck had to have total concentration on the task before him. No distractions about a girl, collapsed on the floor of a parking garage, wiping tears away… 

_She hadn’t been crying_ , he told himself firmly, kicking off the ground and driving his motorcycle up to the front doors of Scrooge’s money bin. She’d been wiping away the water in her eyes caused by the cloud of smog he’d left her in. That had to be the explanation. He hadn’t made her _cry_. 

Or was it easier to _believe_ he hadn’t made her cry? If she had been crying — which she hadn’t been! — then that meant he had broken the girl. And Gosalyn was strong. This Gosalyn was, anyway. His Negaverse Gosalyn had been pathetic in comparison. This Gosalyn wasn’t afraid of anything. Though, he had seen fear sneak into her eyes for the first time as he almost ran her over with his motorcycle. Fear morphed into terror when he’d tackled her, wrapping his fingers around her neck…

He wasn’t proud of that moment. He’d lost total control of his emotions. He needed to keep himself in check.

But she was fine! She was the strongest person he knew. So, if he had broken her down to tears, that meant she had trusted him. Maybe even felt something for him…

Damn it all to hell! This was a distraction! This was exactly what he _didn’t_ need right now, thank you very much.

Positioning his motorcycle underneath an upper story window, Negaduck dismounted. 

Fifteen minutes starting … now.

Pulling out a device he’d kept in his cape since he’d nabbed it in St. Canard, he walked up to the entrance to the money bin. He placed the device next to the security keypad and turned it on, allowing it the few seconds it needed to read the wiring or wifi signal or whatever it was that made it override the security system. Negaduck’s device unscrambled the code to the main door, unlocking it and giving him access to the building.

Sometimes S.H.U.S.H. really knew what they were doing. And occasionally dressing up like his sappy double wasn’t a complete waste of his time.

Pocketing the device, Negaduck walked right in, closing the door behind him. Best to make it look as though nothing were wrong from the outside. 

As he climbed the stairs to the upper level, where the vault door was located, a sense of unease settled over Negaduck. Was this going too well? With nothing happening, he wondered if this wasn’t some elaborate set up. Maybe Scrooge and the police had been warned of his impending burglary and they were all waiting for him to break into the vault before making their move. Gosalyn probably had ratted him out since the two of them weren’t a team anymore. Had they ever been a team? 

No, they hadn’t. 

So, what was there to be upset about? Negaduck hadn’t ever really trusted her, just like she hadn’t trusted him. Other than maybe a few sarcastic barbs and some security knowing he wouldn’t get busted for a small crime here and there, what had he lost? 

_That_ was a dangerous question. Because it was Gosalyn he was thinking about and, despite his best efforts, she had a way of getting under his skin. She always had, even when she was her Negaverse double. Those earnest green eyes and red ringlets. They haunted his dreams and broke through his nightmares. Even now, when she’d been gone for years, left for a life she preferred to lead without him, he still thought of her. He didn’t know why. He’d never liked spending time with her. Talking to her had always been annoying. But he was still, always, enamored with the idea of her. Drawn to her by some inexplicable force. Sometimes, in the darkest recesses of his mind, he even thought that he might want to be in the same vicinity as her. Spend time with her. Talk. Say nothing. It didn’t matter. As long as he was with her.

This wasn’t helping. These thoughts never did. He needed to focus on his mission and not get sidetracked in all those _feelings_. 

Reaching the topmost level of the unimpressive bin, Negaduck crept into an office complete with large mahogany desk, several telephones, and sofas and chairs scattered around the room. Scanning the office, he felt himself relax fractionally as he realized he was alone. No elaborate trap, then. At least, not yet. Floor to ceiling windows allowed sunlight to pour in, showing Negaduck Duckburg in its entirety. The money bin sat on the largest hill in the city, giving Scrooge the perfect vantage point to gaze out over his kingdom. 

Too bad Negaduck’s plans had fallen apart. He would have liked to have set up his base of operations here. The view itself was enough to keep him mesmerized for a few precious moments before he remembered that he was quickly running out of time. 

Moving to the vault door, Negaduck removed his stethoscope and listened carefully to the tumblers as he moved the dial back and forth. In all these years, Scrooge hadn’t updated his system, still using an old school safe lock. Negaduck thanked whatever powers were listening. He preferred the old school levels of security; they were easier to predict and break through. 

A few minutes of tumblers clicking into place paid off. Negaduck swung open the door and climbed up into the vault. Lights flickered on as he entered. Motion censored perhaps? Or did they turn on because the vault door had been opened? Either way, he had less time than he had originally planned. Time to grab some cash and go. 

His beak dropped open as he took in the staggering pile of gold coins, bags of paper bills, and loose change that had been carefully collected in this seemingly unending bin. He felt bad — sort of — for thinking it was underwhelming from the outside. This was his Everest. The biggest amount of wealth he’d ever seen accumulated in one place. And he wanted it all.

He couldn’t have it all, but wanting was different than having. Maybe, over the course of many years, Negaduck could spirit all of this away to the Negaverse and have it all to himself in a place where Scrooge would never think to look. But for now… 

There had to be a ladder somewhere. Or some way to climb down into this hoard. As much as Negaduck wanted nothing more than to take a nosedive right into the ocean of money, he didn’t have time to mess around. A few of those sacks of bills and pocketfuls of the gold coins would have to be enough for today. 

He located the ladder, attached to the walkway where he stood, and made his way over to it. 

If only NegaGosalyn could see him now. She would feel bad for leaving him just when he was about to become so wealthy. The life she could have led with this kind of money. And Darkwing’s Gosalyn! She would rue the day she dared betray him. He would use some of this funding to make her hate her life, or his name wasn’t… 

His hands fused to the cold metal, his webbed foot unable to take another step, a vision suddenly swimming before him. Of a broken female, flame-like hair disheveled and emerald irises filling with liquid as he rode away. 

_He hadn’t made her cry_! How many times must he tell his subconscious that? She was fine, probably working with her father right now on how to defeat him, which is why he needed to get a move on and grab some of this cash before he was swarmed by the police, an angry Scottish duck, and a caped crusader who would monologue about good and justice and blah, blah, blah.  _She_ would probably be there, too. In her hero costume with her quiver full of arrows, one of which would be pointed right at him as she demanded he step away from Scrooge’s money. Her eyes a hurricane of distrust. 

Why now? Why at this moment, when he was about to climb down the ladder to endless wealth, was he unable to focus on something other than Darkwing’s Gosalyn? He hadn’t done anything wrong! _She_  had double-crossed _him_. 

Hadn’t she?

Of course she had! Negaduck had done everything he’d said he would, had held up his end of the bargain. Gosalyn had been the one to screw everything up, blabbing to her father about their partnership and admitting that it was all a scam from the beginning. Now she had to pay for it by fighting the Fearsome Idiots to keep them from taking over the city.

It had only been a matter of time before the wannabe villains tried to overthrow Negaduck and try to take Duckburg on their own. He’d been surprised it had happened so late in their infestation of the city. A few bellowed threats and swings of his active chainsaw and they would have fallen in line again. Losers.

But Negaduck had gone. No one stood between the Fearsome Four and a hostile takeover except a joke of a hero in a mask and cape. Negaduck felt almost sorry for Duckburg. The city wouldn’t survive long under the Fearsome Four’s reign.

But, Gosalyn would be fighting them, too. Maybe Duckburg stood a change. 

Unless the villains had done something to subdue her. Maybe they’d actually worked together and taken Gosalyn captive or managed to injure her or… 

No, she’d be fine. 

Negaduck extended his foot out, ready to jump down to Scrooge’s money, but his body would not follow.

_All right, look_ , he told himself. _You can go through with this or chicken out, but you need to make a decision_.

_Now_.

 


	11. Not as We

Why couldn’t _she_ have a Ratcatcher? Or a plane that looked like her face? Or any form of transportation in general? How was a hero supposed to look remotely heroic when she was rolling up in a city taxi cab? 

“So, you on your way to a costume party or somethin’?” the cab driver asked, looking at Gosalyn in his rearview mirror. 

Gosalyn shifted in the seat, unable to find any comfort with her quiver and bow hanging off her back. “I’m a hero. I work with Darkwing Duck.” 

“The guy who just saved all of Duckburg?” He laughed. “I heard about him on the news as I picked you up. He sounds—” 

“Is this the fastest route to the money bin?” Gosalyn interrupted. “Now that the city’s safe, I want to make sure Mr. McDuck’s money stays the same.” 

“Don’t you worry about that. Darkwing Duck just took all those villains down. I’m sure he can watch over money after saving a whole city.” 

Gosalyn rolled her eyes, keeping her tone civilized. “Yes, but…” 

“Hey,” his eyes flashed back to her in the rearview mirror once more, “if you work with him, why weren’t you at the fight?” 

Blinking at the sudden change in conversation, Gosalyn said, “I was.” 

“Didn’t hear about you on the news. What’s your name?” 

“Quiverwing Quack.” Was she really getting the third degree from a cab driver she’d just met?

“Definitely didn’t hear that name. That’s a name you remember hearin’ and I did not hear it. Are you really who you say you are?” 

Gosalyn considered how to respond. He was already skeptical and any sort of explanation she gave was being met with disbelief. What more could she really do to make this guy see that she needed to get to the money bin as quickly as she could without rousing any more suspicion? 

Glancing out the window and seeing the building nearby, its golden dollar sign on the top gleaming in the sunlight, Gosalyn said, “You can drop me off here.” 

“Maybe I ought to report you to the police.” 

“Why not tell Darkwing Duck about me while you’re at it?” Gosalyn snapped, opening the car door without waiting for him to stop.

“Hey!” The cab driver slammed on his breaks, causing Gosalyn’s face to collide with the back of his headrest. “If you don’t close that door, I _will_ call the police.” 

Rubbing her beak, she eyed the irate cab driver. “Fine.” Opening the door fully, she clamored out of the cab. Not bothering to shut the door behind her, Gosalyn jogged towards the money bin perched atop its hill. 

At least now she wouldn’t have to arrive in a stupid yellow cab. On foot was way more dignified. She never would have heard the end of it from Negaduck if she had bust out of a cab.

If he was still talking to her. Which he probably wasn’t. 

One step at a time. She needed to get to the money bin before analyzing her standing with Negaduck. 

Jogging up the hill, Gosalyn tried to prepare some sort of speech that she could deliver to Negaduck.

_I’m sorry it seemed like I wasn’t on your side._ That was awkward.

_I’m totally on your side I was just… giving some details of our carefully constructed plan to my father._  Swing and a miss.

_I was lying to Dad about being a double agent and just let too many details out._ No. Because what other details might she have let slip in the process? 

_I didn’t mean for this to happen. I’m sorry._ Yeah, like Negaduck would take _that_ seriously. Even Gosalyn didn’t believe her own apology. 

Okay, okay. How about…? 

The money bin loomed before her, its shadow nearly as long as the building was tall. Was she already here? Wasn’t there more hill to run up? 

Guess not. 

She’d reached the money bin without having come up with a cohesive apology or explanation. Why didn’t Scrooge use a mountain when building his money bin? That would have been way more useful to her right now. 

Any thought of her lack of apology flew from her mind as she realized the doors to the money bin hung wide open.

Something was wrong.

Negaduck wasn’t so careless as to leave doors open during a burglary. But if another burglar had broken in, alarms would have been going off and the police surrounding the place. So, it had to have been Negaduck who broke in. Gosalyn glanced down at the asphalt. Yep. There were tire marks consistent with Negaduck’s motorcycle rolling up towards the money bin that proved he had been there. It made sense if the motorcycle was hidden from view; Negaduck wouldn’t want to alert anyone that anything untoward was happening.

But this.

With the doors open. This was messy. Unplanned. Uncoordinated.

Gosalyn stepped through the doors carefully, grabbing her bow. As softly and quietly as she could, she began inching her way through the front room. She nocked an arrow, pulling the string taught and held her weapon out in front of her, ready to fire if she saw anything out of the ordinary.

But that was the thing. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. This being her first time in the money bin, she had no way of knowing if something was out of place. Perhaps that envelope tossed on a side table was slightly askew. Maybe the paintings peering down at her through the near darkness had watched someone else walk through, a layer of dust removed from their oil canvases as the stranger had rushed by. Possibly the twin rugs on either side of the room had been switched, or a corner had been turned up, or was now lying flat when it shouldn’t have been.

She couldn’t be sure if any of these things were important. What she did notice was the silence. It pressed in around her, creeping down her spine and wrapping around her legs, nearly keeping her from ascending the industrial staircase that divided the front room exactly in half. Everything was symmetrical, pristine. It would be easy to spot if something was out of place. The fact that nothing was unnerved Gosalyn more that anything else. More than the suffocating silence, more than the dim lighting. It was the fact that nothing seemed wrong.

But her gut told her otherwise. There was something amiss in this silent symmetrical sanctum. Who was using alliteration now? Her father would be proud.

Reaching the top of the staircase, she listened. Nothing. Pulling her arrow back, she breathed deeply. And stepped around the corner into a large office.

Again, all symmetrical. All pristine.

And the safe door hanging open.

Using only the balls of her feet, Gosalyn crept across the office, eyes trained on the gaping dark hole leading into Scrooge McDuck’s safe. Her fingers began to tingle from holding her arrow back for so long. She longed to relax, stretch her hand. But she continued to advance toward the safe, holding her weapon as still as she could.

And there it was. The one small inconsistency that set her heart racing.

At the edge of the rug was a wrinkle. As if someone had tripped on the carpet walking in. Or out.

A small metal clanging echoed in the safe, its sound ripping Gosalyn’s eyes from the carpet to the open doorway.

Heart pounding so hard she could feel the blood pulsing through her fingers, the steady _thump-thump_ , _thump-thump_ causing her arrow to stray ever so slightly with each one, Gosalyn inched forward. She was somehow unable to catch her breath, her chest rising and falling rapidly as she tiptoed closer and closer to the safe.

_Thump-thump_. Straighten the arrow. _Thump-thump_. Breathe. _Thump-thump_. Straighten the arrow. _Thump-thump_.

Inhaling deeply, Gosalyn leaped into the safe, aiming her arrow straight ahead, waiting for some kind of movement to catch her eye and give her a target.

Sensing her motions, lights flickered on.

To reveal nothing.

Not exactly nothing. A whole bin filled almost to the brim with gold coins, sacks of money, and precious stones could hardly count as _nothing_.

But no one was there. No lingering criminal, hoping to make a quick get away with some dough. No violent delinquent, having inflicted an injury onto an unsuspecting party.

No Negaduck.

Lowering her bow and arrow, an immense relief swept through Gosalyn’s body as her muscles were able to relax. But she was as confused as ever.

If no one was in here, why were doors left open? What had the metallic sound from in here been? Was someone lurking underneath the money, watching her? Once she was gone, would they make their escape? Was she truly alone in this large building? Perhaps Scrooge had more than just money here. Maybe the furniture in the office and front rooms were antiques. Or specially made. He could have other valuables on display in other rooms.

Still keeping a tight grip on her weapons, Gosalyn slowly left the vault and crossed the room to the large desk. Picking up the phone, she dialed the police and informed them there had been a break in before hanging up and taking vigil. Standing next to the window — she would be much less visible compared to the bright light filtering through the panes of glass beside her — she kept her bow and arrow at the ready, eyes trained on the vault door. If someone had been inside, she would be sure to stop their escape.

What if it was Negaduck down there, hiding from her only because he was too furious to face her? There would be no recovering from this if he was in there. She might be able to explain away her conversation with her father — _might_ be able to — but this? Calling in the police when she had expressly promised him a portion of Scrooge’s fortune for himself? It was the reason he had agreed to come to Duckburg and she might have just screwed it all up. Calling the police back and saying, “Oops, sorry, my mistake. No one’s here.” was out of the question. The only hope she had was to call out to him, hope he heard her, and could escape in time.

Unless it wasn’t Negaduck hiding within the piles of money, or somewhere else. Maybe it was someone who wouldn’t hesitate to injure or kill. Calling out to them would ruin her chance at a surprise attack. Or it might mean the end of her life. For all they knew, she had left. To reveal that she hadn’t gone and was waiting for the police to show up would be bad. Really really bad.

But if it was Negaduck, she wanted to warn him. He may be a villain, and a pain in her ass sometimes, but Gosalyn kinda liked him. Scratch that. She did like him. No kinda about it. She didn’t know why she trusted him so completely, even after he had nearly strangled her back in the parking garage, but she did. Something about him made her comfortable. Even with his beak twisted into a snarl and his scarlet fedora angled to cast a shadow over his cold enraged eyes. Gosalyn wasn’t afraid.

And she wanted to protect him now if she could. Save his dignity at least. Help him avoid a prison sentence.

But if it wasn’t Negaduck, she didn’t want to do this strange villain any favors. No one had crept out of the vault yet. There was no way for Gosalyn to know who this someone was. Why didn’t they make their move already?

Too late. Blue and red lights flashed on the walls around her as the police pulled up, sirens blazing. Gosalyn rolled her eyes, frustrated, but didn’t give up her position. Maybe the arrival of the police would send whoever it was into a panic and force their hand. Make them leave with or without the money.

Gosalyn readied her weapon, pulling it into her shoulder and waited.

The police barged in, guns aimed in several directions as they bombarded their way into the office. Gosalyn lowered her weapon and approached the officers, surrendering her bow and quiver when they asked for them. She pointed to the vault and mentioned someone might be hiding in there before Scrooge entered, panic scrawled on his tense features.

She reported to Scrooge all she had seen, mentioning it had been instinct that drove her to the money bin. Yeah, right. Instinct. Totally _not_ the knowledge that this place was number one on Negaduck’s hit list. 

Darkwing and Launchpad weren’t far behind Scrooge. After satisfying himself that Gosalyn was all right, Darkwing went into a lecture on the dangers of wandering off alone. She took it in stride, accepting her weapons back from the police and watched as officers entered the vault.

They came out with nothing. Their search went into the night, Scrooge eager to have every inch of his bin searched for any sort of intruder. It only took digging down a few feet in the mountain of wealth before the officers decided that no one would have been able to survive under the pressure of the wealth for such a long period of time. And the rest of the building was just as deserted as the vault. 

But.

The doors had been left wide open, taunting Scrooge with the fact that someone had been inside his precious money bin without him even knowing. But nothing had been taken, not even moved out of place, except the rug. Just enough of a disturbance to give the police proof of a break in. Otherwise, there were no details to demonstrate how they had managed to get in. All that was left was the unsettling realization that if someone could break in once, they could do it again.

The crime scene was tidy. Intentional. Meticulous.

And.

Negaduck was gone.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I initially posted this online, I left this as a cliffhanger for a few weeks. But you don't have to wait! It's like when you get into a fandom after the show is completed and you just think, "Wow. That would be an awful thing to wait for." *clicks on next episode* Anyway. Read on!


	12. Grey Room

This was it. After this, she was giving up.

Maybe.

She’d told herself it was the final time for so many of these excursions. With each passing attempt, she told herself it was the last one. Then, after she had been unsuccessful — because she was _always_ unsuccessful nowadays — she would go back on her word and plan for just one more. 

One more time scouring the city for Negaduck. Only once more setting up the perfect crime, totally willing to let him get away with everything just so she could talk to him. One last hero spree where she arrested everyone, even the most minimal of offenders, in the hopes that, with so little competition, Negaduck would jump at all the banks not being robbed, all the art still hanging in galleries, and all the ammunition and weaponry sitting in stores, waiting for purchase.

St. Canard had never been safer. And Gosalyn had never been more frustrated. 

Darkwing and Launchpad were more than pleased with how efficiently and effectively Gosalyn had cleaned up the city streets. Launchpad had more than ample time to really fix major problems with the Thunderquack and Ratcatcher. Darkwing just waxed poetic, claiming his baby girl was growing up and taking on more complicated undercover cases from S.H.U.S.H.. Divided in their individual tasks, the Darkwing Duck team was more than good. They were unstoppable. 

But since Gosalyn hadn’t wanted to make St. Canard safe, all she saw was failure every time she donned her mask and cape, taking to the streets. 

It wasn’t that she was frustrated.

Well.

She was.

Really, really frustrated. Seriously, who ignores someone just because they thought that other someone had betrayed them?

Bad example.

More than anything, Gosalyn felt guilty. She knew she shouldn’t. She hadn’t _technically_ done anything wrong and Gosalyn had always lived her life on technicalities. It was the fact that Negaduck was nowhere to be found. He hadn’t shown up to yell at her, rev his chainsaw, or go on some sort of elaborate villainous scheme to exact revenge. Negaduck always eventually showed up, claiming that Darkwing wouldn’t get away this time.

So, Gosalyn had been waiting for it to be her turn. For the villain to slink out of the shadows, bazooka or some new weapon in hand, and grin at her as he leveled a building. Or maybe whiz past her on his motorcycle, laughing as he carted away precious jewels from the visiting geological exhibit at the museum. She even had gone as far as to imagine he might broadcast on cable, demanding her capture for a price. Or hacking some part of the internet to send out a wanted poster with her face plastered on the front.

Silence. That was all she received from him.

With all that quiet time to herself, Gosalyn had wiled away the minutes wondering what she had really done to the demented duck. Had she hurt his feelings? Everyone would laugh at that if she’d mentioned it. Negaduck didn’t have _feelings_.

Except he did and Gosalyn knew it. Not only did Negaduck have feelings, but Gosalyn _had_ probably somehow hurt them and now Negaduck might really be suffering. He was just starting to discover who he was, beginning to open up to someone else. Or he was realizing what he wanted from life. Had he been about to turn over a new leaf? Become an informant, betraying the other darker side of the law? Probably not. But he could have stayed partners with Gosalyn; still be a villain with his demented desires and violent nature. Except for those times when he would help her.

All her unanswered questions kept Gosalyn awake at night. She just stared at her ceiling, knowing sleep would never come as the silence Negaduck had left closed in around her, suffocating and constricting. 

But, hey! St. Canard was safe. Everyone knew that Quiverwing Quack was to thank, much to Darkwing’s chagrin. Duckburg had officially extended a friendly feathered hand towards Darkwing Duck and his team of heroes, telling them that they could come back at any time. 

That had been weeks ago. 

Actually, two months. Give or take a day or five. It wasn’t like Gosalyn was keeping count or anything. But she was. 

Really, though. This. _This_ was it. Her last attempt to reach out to Negaduck and try to get his attention.

She shifted her feet, trying to distribute her weight equally between them. Maneuvering in her tight quarters was one thing. What she really wanted to do was stretch. Give her knees some relief from crouching. Move her feet in a circular motion to release the tension in her ankles. Roll her hands, head, and shoulders. She would feel so much better. The sheer relief that would cascade into her tight muscles was nearly enough to make her call off her mission. Negaduck wasn’t coming. 

But he had to. It was now or never, and this was the perfect night for him to strike.

The new jewelry store _Diamonds Can be Your Best Friend, Too_ had just opened its doors about a week ago. Naturally, with so many new expensive pieces in a part of town that was surrounded by retail and high-end restaurants, they had called in the recent golden child of St. Canard to check out their surveillance system. 

Gosalyn had taken the opportunity and ran with it. Declaring their old security system was a waste of time and that they weren’t getting what they were paying for, blah, blah, blah. One security system out, a new one in. To be fair, it _was_ better, this new system. The old one would have done the job, but this new, much more expensive, one would make it nearly impossible to break into the store. 

Tomorrow morning, as the store opened, the security system would go live. Tonight was the last chance for any villain worth his salt to try and grab as much as he could. Something perfect for Negaduck. A last-chance cash grab with high stakes and the perfect conditions. A sure-fire win for himself and his reputation. 

So where was he? 

The sky was starting to lighten, a pale blue chasing away the deep purples and endless blacks. What time was it? Five or six? The fall season was kicking in, so days were less sunshine and more darkness. So… Yeah, maybe six. Six thirty. 

And she’d been out here since nine the night before. 

No wonder her muscles were seizing up on her. 

Standing, Gosalyn allowed herself the luxury of stretching, pulling her arms across her body and her legs behind her. The relief was even better than she had imagined and she took the time to really get all the kinks out.

How late in the morning was it okay to admit to herself that this was a waste of time? St. Canard was waking up. Cars would be leaving their homes only to be stuck in traffic before the business day started. The jewelry store wouldn’t open until the late morning, but by then everyone else was already at work. The likelihood of someone breaking into the store was highly unlikely. Especially with the restaurant across the street serving brunch. They had been open for at least an hour, people filing by already on their way to get an early breakfast. 

Where _was_ Negaduck? Had she missed him? No, she’d been watching the store the whole time. He could have snuck in, but to enter and exit clandestinely? Not his style. 

If anything, he probably would have struck in the middle of the night to ensure he would get away with the jewels. He was a show off, and with such a long absence since Duckburg, he would have wanted something big to announce his return. And getting away with most of the store’s inventory in the black of night would have been so much more dramatic than carrying a sack away in the small hours of the morning with only early risers to see him. If he had wanted an audience, it would have been better to do it last night after the store closed. As the night crowd filtered through the streets and everyone at home, who hadn’t quite gone to bed yet, could get the story on the news either on TV or on their phones and computers. 

This was a bust. Just like the other ones had been. 

Negaduck really wasn’t coming.

Sighing, Gosalyn emerged from the alleyway she’d made use of. She walked down the street, not responding when people recognized her. It didn’t matter if the citizens of St. Canard saw her walk through the city early in the morning. She still wanted some sort of vehicle to heighten her hero image and give her better ways of getting around the city, but for now it didn’t matter. 

Gosalyn wasn’t good. She wasn’t a hero. What sort of hero crushes another person to the point that they can’t or won’t operate as they used to? That was something the villains did. Not the heroes. 

Trudging up the Audubon Bay Bridge, Gosalyn wondered what was next. Was she supposed to keep trying to bait Negaduck, urge him out of hiding? Or should she forget about him and move onto other villains? Do her job and forget the devastation she had caused for one? She wished there was someone she could talk to about this. But that meant telling that same person about her scheme and partnership with Negaduck. Which was not an option. 

Not for the first time, Gosalyn wondered what she’d gotten herself into.

She leapt into Darkwing Tower, hoping Launchpad was there working on the Thunderquack. Or that her father was fiddling with the latest technological equipment from S.H.U.S.H., trying desperately to figure it out while simultaneously so excited to use it he hadn’t put it together correctly. She didn’t want to be alone. And she wanted to distract herself from this Negaduck business.

No sooner had she descended to the lower level that someone grabbed her from behind, holding her tightly so as to immobilize her arms.

Not exactly what she’d been hoping for, but she’d take it.

Swinging her legs, she hammered her feet into the knees of whoever it was holding her. They immediately dropped her with a yelp. Jumping up from the floor, she glanced back, her eyebrows rising to her hairline when she saw Bushroot. That would explain the constricting hold. 

She was barely able to get “What—” out when two more sets of hands grabbed ahold of her, one pair holding her arms the other pair her legs. Megavolt and Quackerjack. Gosalyn continued to struggle, trying to break free when the Liquidator approached, quickly tying up her arms and legs. 

“Well, at least you are fast learners,” Gosalyn quipped.

“We’ve had plenty of time to study up,” Quackerjack agreed, jeering in her ear. He grabbed ahold of her ropes, leading her towards the group of windows facing opposite the library. Darkwing and Launchpad were already there, slumped tied up against the wall. Launchpad gave Gosalyn a sad smile while the fire in Darkwing’s eyes burst into an inferno. 

“You won’t get away with this!” he growled. 

“We already have!” Quackerjack tugged at Gosalyn’s ropes, pulling her into his side. “We’ve got her. You’ll do anything to protect your prodigy, won’t you, Darkwing?” 

“Wow. Seriously, you guys have done your homework,” Gosalyn congratulated them. Despite the dire situation of having both her father and Launchpad as helpless as she was and the fact that she had no idea what the Fearsome Four wanted and why they’d attacked Darkwing Tower, she wasn’t afraid. Ten to one, Negaduck was here. Somewhere. The Fearsome Four wouldn’t have thought this up themselves. Their mastermind had to be with them. Waiting for the right moment to present himself.

And here she thought he would have gone for the new jewels in town. He probably would, in time. But first he would want to dramatically reveal himself to the heroes first. Flaunt his return and even terrorize them before going into town. Why bother coming back if you don’t have anyone to try and stop you from doing it?

“Quiet!” Quackerjack snarled, his hand coming to grip Gosalyn’s arm tightly. 

“No, really. You figured out that Darkwing and I are working together. But so did everyone else. So, maybe that isn’t impressive.” 

“Hey!” Megavolt whined. “I figured that part out.” 

Gosalyn raised an eyebrow. “Was it the news stories about us that tipped you off? Or maybe Duckburg’s invitation for Darkwing, Quiverwing, and Launchpad to return whenever they wanted that made you connect the dots?” 

“Neither!” Megavolt said gleefully. “It was a poster that showed you and Darkwing together!” 

“Don’t listen to her!” Quackerjack looked over to his counterpart.

“There are _posters_?” Darkwing asked, the prospect of recognition distracting him momentarily. “Where’d you see it? Do you think we should frame it or would that be overkill? Oh, we could sign it and then hang it up!” 

“I’d take one!” Launchpad said.

“Liquidator,” Quackerjack said, motioning towards Darkwing and Launchpad. The Liquidator grinned before transforming into a monstrous tidal wave, crashing down on the two heroes. As the water washed away to form back into the villain, Gosalyn groaned.

“Now you’re gonna get the cape lecture.” 

“The what?” Megavolt asked, scratching his head.

“Do you _know_ ,” Darkwing asked, glancing up from under his soggy fedora, “how long it took me to iron my cape this morning?” 

“There he goes,” Gosalyn said. 

“It’s not like I can rush the process. It may be rip-proof but it also wrinkles if you give it a funny look. The material is so tough, regular steam and irons won’t work so I’ve had to work with an industrial iron made exclusively by S.H.U.S.H. Do you know how long it takes to heat up?” 

“Does it matter?” Quackerjack groaned. 

“You brought this upon yourself.” Gosalyn said, earning a glare from her captor who still maintained his iron-like grip on her arm.

“Only thirty minutes!” Liquidator exclaimed, excited about the product. “A very reasonable time frame for such a great bargain item.” 

“A reasonable time frame? It’s ridiculous! And making sure all the wrinkles are out takes at least an additional thirty minutes if not longer, which I always do longer because you never know who will be watching your crime fighting and no one wants a wrinkly cape on the news.” 

How deep into the cape lecture did they need to go before Negaduck tired of the banal conversation and made his move? Darkwing was half way through at this point and Negaduck was nowhere to be found. Gosalyn couldn’t keep distracting the Fearsome Four forever. 

“I was hoping it wouldn’t have to come to this so quickly,” Quackerjack said, giving another signal to Megavolt who, with a dramatic flourish of the wrists, zapped his electricity somewhere behind Gosalyn and Quackerjack. From the corner of her eye, Gosalyn caught sight of Quackrjack’s toy teeth, bigger and now electrically charged, marching toward her.

Quackerjack tossed Gosalyn to Bushroot, who had finally recovered from Gosalyn’s earlier attack. He gripped her unnecessarily hard as he used his vines to secure her arms to her sides before he stepped away, allowing the large toy teeth to clamp down on her cape.

“Wow. This is… Wow,” Gosalyn mentioned before gagging slightly as the teeth tugged at her cape, pulling her backwards. She sent the teeth a glare as Bushroot rejoined his fellow villains. 

Even though she had no idea what was happening, or why, Gosalyn was willing to have Negaduck stroll in at any moment. Really, there wasn’t a bad time. He could come by and explain what was going on whenever he felt the need. 

“I know you’ve had some experiences with my toy teeth before” Quackerjack said. “But these are really nasty toy teeth with some new upgrades. They’re electrically charged so I don’t have to wind them anymore, but once they hit water, they shut down and act as anchors, holding down whatever they have sunk their teeth into. One more wrong word, Darkwing, and we’ll just toss them over the bridge. The girl included.” 

“What do you want, Quackerjack?” Darkwing asked, his voice taking on a severe tone. Gone were the distractions in the hopes that he could figure out the villains’s scheme. He was all business now. 

“We… did not think this far ahead,” Megavolt confessed as Bushroot shrugged. 

“You humiliated us in Duckburg,” Quackerjack said. “We wanted to get you back.” 

“And toy teeth was the obvious answer,” Gosalyn said, rolling her eyes. 

Quackerjack turned towards her, eyes filled with malice.

“No, no,” Gosalyn continued, glancing around for Negaduck. “I get it. You want to exact revenge on your enemies. You’re feeling down on yourselves, maybe even are questioning if you’re good at being villains…” 

“I was, kinda,” Megavolt agreed. 

“… So what do you do? You think, ‘We’ll break into Darkwing’s hideout!’ So you wait and watch, follow Darkwing here after a caper or two just to make sure this is where his base of operations is.” 

“I had almost no sleep for two days.” Bushroot nodded.

“Then you climb up here today, the day you will exact your revenge. And you think, ‘Oh, wait! We can’t go up there without Quackerjack’s new and improved teeth. We don’t want to look like idiots.’ So you bring them with you.” 

“I carried them up here. They were pretty heavy,” Liquidator said. 

“And you sit up here, waiting until each of the heroes return, tying them up and you’re feeling pretty good. You got them all in one spot, immobilized, and then bam! break out the teeth. I mean, what a _great_ revenge story!” 

“You’re making fun of us,” Quackerjack sneered.

“You’re a _genius_.” Gosalyn rolled her eyes.

“Only I get to decide when we have fun,” Quackerjack said.

Gosalyn laughed. She couldn’t help it. How ludicrous was this idea? It was barely an idea. It wasn’t even a thought. 

“Don’t laugh at me,” Quackerjack snarled, his hands balling into fists. 

“Don’t,” Bushroot agreed. 

“It’s pretty dangerous,” Megavolt added. 

“Oh, what are you gonna do?” Gosalyn challenged. “Bring out more teeth?” 

“I only carried up the two,” Liquidator said. 

“So, what, there’s nothing else? How—” 

“Don’t say it.” 

“Don’t do it.” 

“You’ll regret it.” 

“—stupid!” Gosalyn finished.

Apparently, everyone has their limits. Quackerjack, for example, doesn’t like to be laughed at or told that his ideas are stupid. Live and learn. 

“That’s it!” Quackerjack lunged at Gosalyn, grabbed ahold of her and dragged her to the window, tossing her out. 

As Launchpad and Darkwing screamed her name, Gosalyn found she wasn’t afraid as she fell down towards the water. Yeah, there were these huge teeth weighing her down, and they would turn into anchors once they hit the water and she was completely immobilized in vines and rope, but still. Negaduck wouldn’t let it go that far. He might let her hang out in the water for a little bit, really let her think about what she’d done, but then bring her back out. He’d remind Darkwing not to mess with him again and that would be the end of it. 

Gosalyn hit the water, taking in a deep breath before the giant toy teeth pulled her down below the surface, straight for the bottom of the bay. 

Negaduck probably had a submarine or something. This was all part of his plan, she was willing to bet on it. 

The teeth continued to pull Gosalyn down into the dark murky depths of Audubon Bay, and she looked around, waiting for some sort of underwater vehicle to come grab her. Negaduck was mad at her, sure, but he wouldn’t kill her. Would he? 

No. He wouldn’t. Negaduck would save her.

He would. He had planned this. 

Unless he hadn’t. 

The Fearsome Four had mentioned revenge. Even confessed they hadn’t thought far enough ahead to really come up with anything. They’d had months to figure something out an had only gotten as far as get into Darkwing’s hideout, tie up the heroes and then… something else. 

That wasn’t Negaduck’s style. 

He must not have been a part of it.

Gosalyn’s heart raced as she struggled against her bonds, her feet trying to kick off the teeth that dragged her down. She should have known! Toy teeth? Negaduck never would have gone for that! She’d been so dumb! All that time, she’d been playing the game thinking if she could just distract the villains long enough, Negaduck would show up and bring order to the chaos. But Negaduck wasn’t there. It had been only chaos. She should have played to that, made the Fearsome Four question their leader — who was, once more, Quackerjack — and amplify their individual craziness until she and her father could break loose and take them down.

Now, she was at the bottom of the bay and no closer to breaking free of her bonds. They’d been tied more tightly that she’d anticipated and the added water wasn’t helping in trying to loosen them. 

Her lungs feeling as though they would explode, Gosalyn opened her beak to try and breathe. Water rushed into her mouth, cascading down her throat. She coughed, still trying to suck in oxygen even though she knew she couldn’t. Blood pumped in her ears, her eyes, causing the world around her to pulse. Darkness lingered on the edges of her vision, slowly creeping in. 

That really had been it. Her final attempt at finding Negaduck. 

If only she could have told him she was sorry. 

And Launchpad. And her father. What would they do now?

Why hadn’t she figured this out sooner? 

She really wasn’t the hero she thought she was.

The darkness had completely taken over her vision, pulling her down into it.

 


	13. The Love I Meant to Say

“No, no,” Gosalyn said. “I get it. You want to exact revenge on your enemies. You’re feeling down on yourselves, maybe even are questioning if you’re good at being villains…” 

“I was, kinda,” Megavolt agreed. 

Overall, he understood what she was doing. Stalling. Trying to give him time to break free of his bonds, but the Fearsome Four had worked on their knot tying and had managed to actually make them pretty tight. He was having more difficulty than he was willing to admit breaking out of them. Pretty soon, he’d have to bust out his buzz saw cufflinks then the Fearsome Four would really have to watch out. 

“… So what do you do?” Gosalyn continued. “You think, ‘We’ll break into Darkwing’s hideout!’ So you wait and watch, follow Darkwing here after a caper or two just to make sure this is where his base of operations is.” 

“I had almost no sleep for two days.” Bushroot nodded.

Darkwing wasn’t sure if this was the best way to go about distracting them. Wouldn’t trying to single each of them out be better? Point out the flaws in the plan, help figure out who was to blame, and make the Fearsome Four tun on one another? Gosalyn knew that, though. He had faith in her. 

Besides, he was still trying to break free so who was he to talk?

“Then you climb up here today, the day you will exact your revenge. And you think, ‘Oh, wait! We can’t go up there without Quackerjack’s new and improved teeth. We don’t want to look like idiots.’ So you bring them with you.” 

“I carried them up here. They were pretty heavy,” Liquidator said. 

Maybe Gosalyn would turn this around. She was nearly there as it was. He needed to work all the harder, try to sync up his time of breaking free when her distracting started to waver. 

“And you sit up here, waiting until each of the heroes return, tying them up and you’re feeling pretty good. You got them all in one spot, immobilized, and then bam! break out the teeth. I mean, what a _great_ revenge story!” 

He wasn’t any closer in breaking out of his bonds. Darkwing glanced at Launchpad to see his sidekick hadn’t made any progress either. Time for the buzz saw cufflinks.

“You’re making fun of us,” Quackerjack sneered.

Oh, no. 

Darkwing paused, his fingers frozen on the ropes as he pensively watched Quackerjack. The others were ready to turn on him, but instead of getting frustrated with his lackeys for thinking he had done a poor job, Quackerjack was getting angry at Gosalyn.

Darkwing’s fingers began moving along his ropes again, eagerly searching for the button to activate his cufflinks. 

“You’re a _genius_ ,” Gosalyn said, rolling her eyes.

 _“Don’t taunt him!”_ Darkwing wanted to screech. If there was one thing Quackerjack didn’t like, it was to be made fun of. Darkwing continued to search for the button, hoping he would locate it in time.

“Only I get to decide when we have fun,” Quackerjack said.

She didn’t. She wouldn’t. She knew better.

But.

Gosalyn laughed. 

Darkwing was scrambling now. Why was the button so hard to find?

“Don’t laugh at me,” Quackerjack snarled, his hands balling into fists. 

“Don’t,” Bushroot agreed. 

“It’s pretty dangerous,” Megavolt added. 

 _“Yes, it is!”_ Darkwing was on the verge of saying. But he would be free soon. And he could help Gosalyn out. He didn’t want to look divided in front of the Fearsome Four. Better make it look like this was all part of the plan.

“Oh, what are you gonna do?” Gosalyn challenged. “Bring out more teeth?”

Almost there. 

“I only carried up the two,” Liquidator said. 

Almost there!

“So, what, there’s nothing else? How—” 

_Don’t, Gosalyn!_

“Don’t say it.” 

“Don’t do it.” 

“You’ll regret it.” 

“—stupid!” Gosalyn finished.

Oh. 

No.

Oh please no.

She hadn’t. She couldn’t have. 

“That’s it!” Quackerjack lunged toward Gosalyn, the sight igniting the fire deep within Darkwing’s gut. No one messes with his girl. His fingers, now focused, found the button.

But Quackerjack was faster.

He grabbed ahold of Gosalyn and dragged her to the window. 

Darkwing pressed the button and cut through his ropes.

Just as Quackerjack tossed Gosalyn out of the window.

“QUIVERWING!” Darkwing cried, his voice louder and more desperate than Launchpad’s, who had called out Gosalyn’s name simultaneously.

No more Mr. Nice Duck.

Grabbing his severed ropes, Darkwing flung them aside. Not even bothering to take out any of the villains, Darkwing headed straight for the window Quackerjack had thrown Gosalyn out of. 

His gas gun was out. 

He loaded his grappling hook. 

As he fell towards the water — towards Gosalyn — he would fire his gun. He would tie the rope around his waist and, hopefully, catch his daughter just before, or just as, she hit the water. 

Darkwing leapt.

Quackerjack grabbed him.

“No!” Darkwing cried, scrambling against the villain.

“Don’t worry, Darkwing,” Quackerjack cooed in his ear. The villain wrestled the gun from Darkwing’s grasp before shoving the hero to the floor, practically sitting on him to pin his arms and legs down.

“Let me go, you demented clown!” 

“I’ll let you go free. In about ten minutes.” Quakerjack laughed.

“Launchpad, can you—” Darkwing glanced sideways at his sidekick, but Launchpad didn’t have buzz saw cufflinks and had yet to release himself from his ropes. He shook his head at Darkwing, panic swirling in his gaze.

It couldn’t end like this. It had been going so well. Gosalyn had been distracting them. It was a mistake. A little mistake. She had just laughed at Quackerjack. That wasn’t worth her life. Nothing was. 

Darkwing tried to free himself still, but Quackerjack’s grip only tightened. 

“I’m sure it’ll be easy to find her,” Quackerjack jeered. “She’ll be exactly where we dropped her off. At the bottom of the bay.” 

Darkwing continued to struggle. Tried to tire Quackerjack out. Anything to release him sooner so he could find Gosalyn. He didn’t need his gun. He didn’t need a grappling hook. He didn’t even need a plan. 

He just needed to get to her as quickly as he could. 

 


	14. I Heard Your Voice in a Dream

Blurred colors swam before her as she sucked air into her lungs. That’s all she knew before she started choking, unable to catch her breath.

Someone flipped her over onto her side and she coughed, water spilling out of her beak as she continued to gasp for air. 

Where was she? Why couldn’t she remember getting here? What had happened?  Had-had she almost _drowned_? 

The same someone who had flipped her over pulled her onto her back again, their hands grabbing her face and forcing her to look at them.

“Gosalyn!” came a harsh voice. And she saw the blue irises.

Gone was their harshness. Heightened was their intensity. And drowned, they almost were, in a mixture of worry and relief.

Negaduck.

“Breathe,” he instructed.

Unable to control herself or her parabolic emotions, Gosalyn reached up and wrapped her arms around Negaduck’s neck, clinging to him desperately as she burst into tears.

“I’m sorry,” she sobbed, her grip on him tightening when he didn’t push her away. He seemed frozen, unable to do anything, let alone somehow respond to what was happening to him.

“I was so stupid and I shouldn’t have betrayed your trust. I thought I’d never see you again and I felt awful that you might not ever know that I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” 

After a few moments of Gosalyn repeating her apology, Negaduck cleared his throat, trying to pull away. “It’s okay.” 

“It’s not okay,” Gosalyn insisted, keeping her tight hold on him. “I ruined everything.” 

“Not everything. It’s fine.” He tried to pull away again.

“It’s not!” Gosalyn hung onto him.

“It is.” 

“It isn’t!” 

“Really, it’s—”  

“No, it isn’t!” 

Negaduck sighed. “We sound like an old married couple.” 

Gosalyn couldn’t help herself. She laughed. Unwilling to let go just yet, Gosalyn buried her face into Negaduck’s shoulder, hoping the contact would somehow make her apology seem all the more genuine. She shook her head slightly, not expecting to come away with a damp beak.

“You’re wet,” she commented, finally releasing Negaduck and sitting up. 

“So are you,” he said, sitting back on his feet, keeping a close eye on her.

Gosalyn looked down at her drenched costume. “So it would seem.” 

“You were dropped into Audubon Bay. Do you remember that?” Was Negaduck’s tone _gentle_?

Gosalyn nodded. “The Fearsome Four latched Quackerjack’s toy teeth onto my cape then he threw me out of Darkwing Tower.” 

A snarl darkened Negaduck’s expression. But she had more pressing matters to deal with than Negaduck’s protectiveness. 

“You saved me,” she said.

His expression softened and he shrugged. “You weren’t surfacing.” 

“How did you know I was here?” Gosalyn eyed him. “Have you been following me?” 

“A few days. Ow!” he exclaimed as Gosalyn smacked him on the arm.

“You must have known I was trying to get you to come out of hiding and you didn’t do anything? Not even a message or something to let me know you wanted space?” 

“I’m here now.” Negaduck raised an eyebrow at her. “What did you want?” 

“Just to say … I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything by telling Dad parts of our plan, it just happened. But I know that it felt like a betrayal to you even though I didn’t mean for it to and … I’m sorry.” 

“I already told you, it’s fine.” 

“But it isn’t.” 

“Here we go again.” Negaduck rolled his eyes.

“No, I…” 

“You want me to be angry at you. Tell you that you let me down and betrayed me and everything we stood for.” 

Gosalyn opened her beak to respond but found there was nothing she could think to say, so closed it again.

“Yes, I was mad. But it’s fine. And before you go saying it’s not, let me tell you that it is. I’ve moved on. So please, for the love of everything evil, don’t bring it up again.” 

Gosalyn observed Negaduck for a few moments. She had been on a roller coaster with him the past few weeks, trying to get him to show himself and hating him when he didn’t appear. Then there was the complicated self-loathing because she deserved to be ignored by him after what she’d done.

But now.

Everything was okay.

Magically. 

It was all okay. 

She hadn’t expected it to be this easy.

While it didn’t sit right with her, Gosalyn nodded. 

“Okay. Come on,” he stood and held out a hand, helping her up. “You’re going to _destroy_ those four losers.” 

“What, you don’t wanna come and watch?” Gosalyn teased.

Negaduck’s expression grew dark. “I’ll deal with each of them later. In private.” 

Gosalyn held up a hand. “Don’t want the details.” 

“Now, listen,” Negaduck took ahold of her shoulders, his eyes crashing into hers to ensure she was paying attention. “Quackerjack likes you to think that everything happens according to his plan, but he never has a plan. He just goes by the seat of his pants. Megavolt and Bushroot are way too unbalanced to be decent villains. If you start talking about Bushroot’s loneliness or how incompetent Megavolt is, they’ll both get too emotionally involved and will be easier to beat. Liquidator is only in this because he thinks he will gain something. If there isn’t a prize he can win in the end, he won’t be a part of the scheme.” 

“You’re not wearing your hat,” Gosalyn mentioned, her eyes scanning the rest of him, searching for additional missing costume pieces. His cape was also MIA.

“Did you hear a word I said?” Negaduck growled, a scowl sitting on his face.

“How many pieces am I missing?” She started feeling for her hero costume, finding her own hat and cape were gone as well as her mask. She couldn’t very well go fight the Fearsome Four without her hero mask; that was the same as walking in and introducing herself as Gosalyn rather than Quiverwing Quack. Her father would be so disappointed if she willingly gave up her secret identity— 

“Dad!” she cried, barreling towards the water once more. He must be beside himself, sitting up in Darkwing Tower while he thought she was sinking to the bottom of the Bay.

Negaduck growled something, his arms wrapping around her, yanking her back.

“I have to see him!” She struggled against Negaduck. “He has to know I’m okay.” 

“He will, but first… if you’d just let me… _Gosalyn_!” The use of her first name stopped her struggle for freedom, her eyes looking back to find his. 

“You can’t tell anyone, and I mean _anyone_ , about this. You’ll tell them that you managed to free yourself and swam back up to the Tower.” He dug around in his suit pocket and withdrew her mask, handing it to her. 

“I would almost think you were sentimental, saving my mask like that,” she said, tying the fabric in place. 

“Give me some credit. Can’t have _them_ knowing your secret identity.”

Gosalyn smiled when she heard her thoughts aloud in another’s voice. Had the two of them always been this similar?

“Remember what I told you,” Negaduck said before turning and running back towards the city. The little bank he’d pulled her onto was well sheltered by trees and shrubs; Gosalyn was sure they hadn’t attracted any attention. Still, prolonged time together in broad daylight was a bad idea, trees or no.

“Negaduck!” Gosalyn leapt forward and grabbed ahold of his suit, tugging him back. He looked around, irritation spiking his gaze.

“If I were to suggest a meeting, would you actually show up? Or am I going to have to get thrown in the Bay again for you to talk to me?” 

Negaduck frowned. “Don’t joke about that.” 

“Well?” Gosalyn crossed her arms.

He sighed. “When and where?” 

A somewhat distant splash grabbed Gosalyn’s attention, her eyes shooting back towards Darkwing Tower. Please say that hadn’t been her father. Who was she kidding? It definitely was. She was grateful he was so eager to help her, but not right now. She didn’t need saving and he was only putting himself in danger by trying to dive all the way to the bottom of the Bay.

“I could meet you where we first came up with the Duckburg scheme.” Gosalyn whipped her head around to finalize details with Negaduck only to see he’d disappeared. That tricky no-good— 

“Two weeks,” Gosalyn called, sure he hadn’t wandered off too far. “Around ten.” 

Cursing Negaduck, she dove into the Bay, swimming as quickly as she could towards Darkwing Tower. She saw her father surface — he _had_ jumped in! Was he crazy? — once and she tried to call out to him, but wound up with a beak full of water as he ducked under the waves again. 

Her shoulders burning from her efforts, she grabbed ahold of the bottom of Darkwing Tower, giving her sore leg and arm muscles a chance to relax as she allowed the waves to gently bob her up and down while she waited for Darkwing to come up once more.

When he did, gasping and coughing for air, she reached out to grab him.

“Dad. DAD!” Her fingers came in contact with his sleeve and she held on for dear life, awkwardly pulling him by the arm.

“Gosalyn.” He sighed rather than said her name, closing the small distance between them. “Are you okay?” His eyes took in every inch of her that they could, his hand coming up to gently sweep her sopping hair out of her eyes. 

“Just a little soggy.” 

“How did you escape?” he asked, eyes still roving over her face as if he’d been afraid he’d never see it again.

“The teeth malfunctioned,” Gosalyn lied. She’d learned her lesson. Even if she was convinced that Negaduck wasn’t around, she would keep what was between them strictly that: between them.

“I knew Quackerjack didn’t have the attention span to construct something that lethal,” Darkwing admitted. 

Gosalyn grinned when he looked back at her. “You sure you’re okay?” he asked.

“I’m fine.” 

“Good.” Darkwing pulled out a miniaturized version of his gas gun, a grappling hook hanging out the end. 

“Where’s your regular gas gun?” she asked, propelling herself into his arms when he motioned for her to do so. 

“They knocked it out of my hand. But that’s why I always carry a backup.” He wriggled his eyebrows, making her laugh lightly. 

“Ready to make those Four sorry they ever messed with Darkwing Duck and Quiverwing Quack?” 

“Yeah.” Gosalyn grinned.

Shooting his grappling hook above their heads, Darkwing gripped Gosalyn to his side as they were dragged from the water and up into the air, rocketing towards Darkwing Tower.

“Then let’s get dangerous!” 

 


	15. Sin With a Grin

A door slammed shut, the sound echoing harshly around the empty space. A light was flicked on, naked bulbs swinging from the ceiling, their light illuminating an abandoned warehouse. Catwalks crisscrossed the upper levels, casting sinister shadows throughout the massive room. Several clumps of battered chairs, sofas, and tables served as the only breaks to the otherwise desolate vastness.

“I _really_ hate Darkwing Duck,” Quackerjack seethed, his hands balling into fists as he stalked into the Fearsome Four’s hideout.

_Darkwing, having re-entered Darkwing Tower, lobbed a gas container amongst the villains and moved to free Launchpad in the explosion of smoke. The pilot sprung into action as Darkwing delivered a well-aimed kick to Quackerjack before the villain could recover his bearings, sending the toymaker flying._

“I didn’t even get the chance to fry his feathers,” Megavolt whined, slumping after Quackerjack and dropping into a battered armchair. The seams had split open on the armrests and along the headrest, the stuffing spilling out when Megavolt dropped his weight onto the upholstery. 

_Launchpad, now freed, ran over toward Megavolt, grabbing the villain’s extension cord and plugging him into a nearby outlet. The electric current, stronger in Darkwing Tower than anywhere else in St. Canard, rushed through an already fully charged Megavolt, causing him to short-circuit. The glow of electricity illuminated the foggy room in a blue glow briefly before the villain fell onto the ground._

“Wait until you see the new and improved version,” Liquidator said. It took all of his energy to spill into the hideout and gather himself into a small puddle near the door. 

_Quiverwing, grabbing her spare quiver and bow from Darkwing’s weapon arsenal, fired her kerosene arrow, dousing the area around Liquidator in the substance. A quickly lit match dropped on the ground exploded into flame, Liquidator’s water evaporating in the intense sudden eruption of heat. After a few moments, a fire extinguisher was sprayed over the flames, quenching the hungry blaze and mixing in with Liquidator’s remaining water to make him little more than a paste._

“Yeah. That Quiverwing Quack is somethin’.” Bushroot, the last to enter, closed the warehouse door and moved towards another vacant chair, but slipped on Liquidator and collapsed in a tangled heap on the floor. 

_Darkwing and Launchpad continued to fight Quackerjack, who refused to be beaten, always jumping up and continuing to fight. Bushroot extended his vines, attempting to trip up one or both of the heroes, but Quiverwing was faster. She soared overhead, opening a jar of aphids and releasing them onto the villain. The small insects made quick work of Bushroot, starting to feast. He yelped and leaped all over the Tower, rolling over and rubbing up against any surface he could to try and get them off._

Quackerjack growled as he turned on another set of lights, his hand coming up to cradle his wrist. It might not be broken but it was definitely sprained. 

_Darkwing delivered another kick, Quackerjack spinning towards the ground, one hand going back to break his fall but crumbling under his weight. Landing on his side, Quackerjack turned with a snarl, ready to fight Darkwing back but stopped when he saw not only Darkwing posed for attack, but Launchpad standing at the ready beside him. Quiverwing Quack jumped down from her perch and aimed an arrow at him. With a sneer, Quackerjack held up his hands in surrender._  

“It doesn’t make sense,” Quackerjack said as Bushroot untangled his vines and trudged over to the chair he’d initially had his eye on. Liquidator gathered the water droplets Bushroot tracked after him, growling at his fellow villain for taking away more water than he could spare. “She couldn’t have gotten free. Those teeth were brand new. They couldn’t have shorted out so quickly…” 

“Well, you must have miscalculated,” Megavolt said, glaring over at Quackerjack. 

“What was that, Sparky?” Quackerjack rounded on Megavolt, his expression darkening. 

“Coming from someone who short-circuits regularly, it doesn’t take much.” 

“Yeah, why didn’t you consult Megavolt on those teeth before you asked him to charge them up?” Bushroot asked.

“Oh, so this is my fault?” Quackerjack said.

“Who promised us an easy win?” Megavolt inquired, standing and facing the clown.

“Ever since you took over, we’ve been more successful when sold separately,” Liquidator said. 

“Of course! Blame your leader!” Quackerjack stormed, throwing his arms up in frustration. “No wonder Negaduck left us.” 

“Don’t flatter yourselves.” Negaduck stepped into the light, giving away his hiding place from the deserted corner that was used for Bushroot’s cracked clay pots and spilled soil. 

“N-N-Negaduck!” Bushroot shivered in his chair, pulling his legs up to wrap his arms around them. 

“He’s back!” Megavolt almost sounded excited. 

“More fearsome and menacing than before!” So did Liquidator.

Quackerjack scowled, crossing his arms over his chest. “Where have you been?” 

“None of your business," Negaduck growled, his eyes slinking to each villain and taking stock of their injuries. "Besides, you look like you’ve kept yourselves busy." 

"It was Darkwing Duck and his new partner!” Megavolt massaged his neck, a small electrical charge from his fingers shocking him lightly. 

"The sensational new hero, Quiverwing Quack!” Liquidator lifted himself from the ground, shorter than his usual height. It would take him a few days to gather enough water to get back to normal. 

“A girl. You got beaten by Dorkwing and a _girl_?” Negaduck leered. 

“The pilot was also there,” Bushroot offered. 

“Why didn’t you do something to Scrooge McDuck’s money bin to send the pilot back to Duckburg?” Negaduck asked.

“Uh…” Liquidator’s brow furrowed. 

“You didn’t even think to blow up the S.H.U.S.H. weapons factories to limit Darkwing’s and Quiverwing’s supplies?” 

“When you put it that way…” Megavolt glanced at his fellows, shame creeping into his gaze. 

“How about splitting up and committing some small crimes in town to divide the heroes, then take them back to… wherever you planned on taking them—” 

“Darwing's hideout. We found it!” Bushroot said, sounding triumphant. Megavolt and Liquidator nodded in agreement as a smug look crossed Quackerjack’s face. 

“Let me get this straight,” Negaduck said, folding his hands behind his back as he started to pace around the warehouse. “You found our adversaries hideout, stormed it, and didn’t defeat them. Now that two-bit hero has more than likely moved his base of operations to a new un-compromised and undiscovered location so we won’t be able to find him again. That seem right?” 

“It was Quackerjack's idea!” Megavolt cried, earning a glare from the toymaker. 

“We built teeth!” Bushroot said, Liquidator nodding. 

“Teeth. You stormed the hero’s hideout armed with TEETH?!” Negaduck roared, the villains cowering. 

“New and improved Quackerjack teeth,” Liquidator said, shrinking back into a puddle.

“Electrically charged,” Megavolt said. 

“They clamp down and don’t let go unless one of us gives them a specific word.” Bushroot flinched when Negaduck glared at him. 

“And they worked. But somehow that girl _still_ got free,” Quackerjack said, his voice and expression sour. 

“You didn’t test these teeth before you went on the mission?” Negaduck asked, moving to stand in front of Quackerjack. 

Straightening to his full height, Quackerjack said, “We were on a time crunch. Our _leader_ had disappeared,” Negaduck bristled but Quackerjack continued, “and we had to do something, so we attacked that new hero and tried to drown her, but…” 

“Enough!” Negaduck snarled. 

Megavolt, Bushroot, and Liquidator cowered together in a clump. Even Quackerjack was stunned into silence, leaning away from Negaduck’s wrath. 

“I know you tried to take over the Duckburg operation,” Negaduck said, glaring at each villain in turn, making each of them tremble. “You want to get out from under my shadow, eh? Well, now that you’ve successfully ruined _everything_ ,” he glowered at Quackerjack in particular who finally slinked away to join the others, “I hope it’s out of your system.”

Inhaling deeply, Negaduck prowled towards the huddled group slowly. “Now, I’ll only tell you this once: don’t ever,” he glared at Bushroot, his face inches from the half-plant. “Try.” He glared at Liquidator. “To take over.” He transferred his gaze to Megavolt who swallowed slowly. “Again.” Negaduck ended with Quackerjack on purpose, making sure he lingered in front of the clown as he said, “I’m the leader, you follow me and do what _I_ say.” 

He stepped back, making sure he had eyes on all four of them. “Is that clear?” They all nodded enthusiastically. “Good. Now that we all understand each other, I made some improvements to your sorry excuse of a hideout while you were out. A place for me to stay when I’m here. And a place for you numbskulls to hang out.”

Negaduck motioned towards the back stockroom before grabbing a flashlight, switching it on, and walking towards the indicated space. 

“That’s very… generous,” Megavolt said, glancing at his fellows before following Negaduck through the dark warehouse.

“It’s what a leader does,” Negaduck said, sending a dark look back to Quackerjack who hung his head slightly as he fell into step behind Megavolt. Liquidator and Bushroot weren’t far behind. 

“Besides,” Negaduck continued, “I can’t have you all getting in my way. I have to plan schemes and have a place to store my loot. And if you’ll be electrifying teeth, I’d prefer to steer clear.” 

“We won’t electrify teeth again,” Quackerjack mentioned.

“You didn’t test them,” Negaduck ventured. “How do you know what they could be used for?” 

“They didn’t work in killing that Quiverwing girl. What else—?” 

Coming to an abrupt halt in front of a garage door, Negaduck took a steadying breath. The anger that had been smoldering within him built to an inferno, the heat consuming him from the inside out. The thought of Gosalyn in the bay, a lifeless rag doll, her head bobbing as her body swayed this way and that with the current fueled his ire. He glanced back at the others, not bothering to disguise his rage. Liquidator shrunk to a smaller puddle, Megavolt crouched behind Quackerjack and Bushroot actually brought up his leafy hands to cover his eyes. 

With a flourish of his cape, Negaduck walked to a nearby control box, reached up, and pushed the button to raise the door. The Not-So-Fearsome Four glanced at each other warily before looking through the darkness to try and see the improvements Negaduck had talked about. 

Negaduck switched on the lights lining the upper walls of the stockroom, the clinical glow flickering to life as artificial buzzing filled the silence. Vicious growls and barks followed, echoing around the room. Negaduck’s Dobermans stalked towards the four villains, licking their chops. 

Turning to run, Liquidator, Bushroot, Quackerjack, and Megavolt came face to face with Negaduck, murder in his eyes as he revved his chainsaw.

“Run,” he growled. 

 

 


	16. Say Something (I'm Giving Up on You)

The looming rainstorm dampened the air, gripping the sounds of the bustling city in its sticky unforgiving fingers. The wind’s attempts to sweep the scent of the nearby bakery toward her were thwarted by the smell of the oncoming rain. 

Leaning over the edge of the building, Gosalyn peered down at the city fifty stories below, trying not to think about how long she’d been standing on the rooftop. Pacing back and forth. Sitting. Standing. Eventually she crossed her arms and walked toward the edge to spy on the lives of thousands of citizens below her. 

There was no way to know if Negaduck was coming. Part of her was confident that he was. Definitely. He wouldn’t miss this.

But there was that nagging voice in the back of her mind that would always come in with, “What if…?” and, “Oh yeah? Well…”. She hated that voice. No matter how many times she tried to silence it, there it was again. Slinking into her mind when she least suspected it. 

Sighing, she leaned her elbows on the concrete wall that lined the top of the building. The wind pulled at her hair and cape, inviting her to look over her shoulder. Which she refused to do. If Negaduck was going to show up, he would show up. No use looking around and making herself all the more anxious. 

Another gust of wind swept by her, this time practically whispering to peek over her shoulder. The gale was so strong it blew her hair into her eyes despite the fact that it was pulled back into a ponytail. She had taken off her hat. That was one thing she could say that had gone in her favor so far. It would have blown away by now with all these stormy squalls, but it was safely tucked away in her quiver back by the maintenance door. Negaduck knew she was Gosalyn Mallard; she didn’t need to be dressed in full costume for this meeting. But using zipline arrows as she traveled through the streets of St. Canard would have been an odd thing for Gosalyn to do. As Quiverwing, her eccentric actions didn’t attract any attention.

Well, it attracted less attention. 

Okay, she still got the same amount of attention regardless if she was Gosalyn or her alter ego. But dressed as Quiverwing, people didn’t question her. As much.

A clang resounded somewhere behind her and she breathed a sigh of relief. She couldn’t help the smile that spread across her beak as she heard webbed feet land on the roof. 

“You called me Gosalyn,” she said, not turning around. 

There was a moment of silence as Negaduck decided how he would respond. “I haven’t called you anything yet. Though some choice words are coming to mind now.”  

She turned and faced him. Uncrossing her arms, Gosalyn tucked her hands behind her back, her fingers entwining into the folds of her cape. “After you saved me.” He gave her a fierce scowl, offended that he was accused of something so virtuous, but she continued, “You can’t argue that: you _did_ save me. And you called me Gosalyn. Twice, actually.” 

Negaduck regarded her for a moment before gathering up his rope. “Slip of the tongue.” 

“Big slip.” 

Shrugging, he tossed the now coiled rope and grappling hook on the ground. “I’ve been watching my language. Rinsed my mouth out with soap and everything. Won’t happen again.”  

Gosalyn let a moment of silence slide by on the coattails of the wind before she said, “That's a shame.” 

His eyebrows rocketed up towards his fedora. She’d surprised him.

Gosalyn: 1 Negaduck: 0. 

“You can't have called me here for a name clarification,” Negaduck finally said, crossing his arms. 

“No, I didn’t. I wanted to see what you’d say if I proposed we keep working together.”

Another moment of silence passed between them. “Never pegged you as a masochist,” Negaduck finally said. 

Gosalyn rolled her eyes. “I’m not a masochist for recognizing that we work well together. The fact that you’re a villain is just a coincidence.”

He regarded her in the silence. The wind that had been tugging at Gosalyn all night threw his cape behind him dramatically, the rim of his fedora pulling upwards. But the hat never moved from its spot on his head. Whether or not Negaduck forgave her, Gosalyn wondered if she could at least get his secret as to how he kept his hat on all the time. Her father had just said, “You’ll figure it out,” which was no help at all. Because she clearly hadn’t figured it out. And now she was opting for a hat-less ensemble since the alternative was worrying about balancing it on her head when she was in the throes of a duel between good and evil. Because she could definitely think about _her hat_ while battling any one of the Fearsome Four. Not.

“Why did you come to me for help?” Negaduck asked. 

Gosalyn’s brow furrowed. “To get to Duckburg.” Duh. 

Negaduck shook his head, a smug look spreading across his face. “You don’t come up with a plan to get to Duckburg, then immediately think that the most dangerous super villain you’ve ever encountered will help you.” 

Gosalyn sighed. If this was the price she had to pay to keep working with him, so be it. “I don't know, I’ve just always had a feeling—” 

“That the most terrifying villain would help you if you asked nicely?” He cocked an eyebrow. 

“I’ve never been afraid of you.”

Negaduck’s beak dropped open in shock, his eyebrows flying back up towards his hat. Gosalyn would have upped the score, given herself another point for surprising him, but she’d surprised herself, so it wouldn’t have counted. 

Because, really, that couldn’t have been right. She remembered being afraid of Negaduck years ago, when she’d met him for the first time. And when she had started fighting crime as Quiverwing at the young age of nine, Negaduck had treated her like an adult hero and she’d been terrified of him. He had threatened her and nearly killed her. Multiple times. 

But it wasn’t Negaduck she’d been afraid of. It had been what he was doing. She was afraid of his weaponry, his brutality, his blinding anger. But not him. He was just—

“You’re not afraid of me?” Negaduck asked, interrupting Gosalyn’s thoughts. “The singular duck who tore apart his own universe, wasn’t satisfied enough with that, so decided to travel to a different one to destroy that as well? How can you not be afraid of _that_?” His eyes were wild, his hands gesticulating madly. He was fighting for control but it was slipping through his feathered fingers and _he_ was terrified. What a strange turn of events. 

Negaduck afraid. 

Of himself.

Of how Gosalyn felt about him.

Of what that meant.

Gosalyn smiled gently. “How can I be afraid of a grown up Drakey Mallard who came from a broken home and was bullied, so dawned a mask because it gave him control?”  

Negaduck nearly collapsed, stumbling backward, looking for something to support himself. Gosalyn darted forward, grabbing ahold of his shaking hand and pulling him upright, but he tugged his hand free. With a growl, he stalked away to the cement wall and leaning his palms against its surface, hunching his shoulders against the wind.

“I’ll kill Darkwing!” Negaduck snarled, the sound deep in his throat. “Giving away a guy’s childhood like that.” 

“Oh, calm down!” Gosalyn said, walking towards him. “I know about your childhood the same way you know that I live on Avian Way.” 

“But he’s not supposed to talk about that!” Negaduck said, glowering at her as she approached. “ _I_ don’t talk about it!” 

“Well, he adopted me and you did what with your Gosalyn? Made her a servant? You and Dad are similar, but you aren’t the same.”

She knew she’d gone too far when Negaduck moved his gaze onto the city below, clamping his beak shut so tightly it clicked when he closed it. Leaning her elbows on the wall beside Negaduck, Gosalyn waited for him to say something.

This wasn’t exactly going to plan. She hadn’t wanted to fight with Negaduck. She knew they’d argue, they always did, but actually fighting wasn’t what she wanted. Maybe she’d gone too far bringing up his childhood. Or reminding him that he hadn’t treated his Gosalyn with as much respect as he might have. Or maybe it was mentioning what Darkwing had done. If anything would anger Negaduck, it was comparing himself to Darkwing and realizing that the hero had come out on top. 

But as much as they were the same, they were different, as Gosalyn had said. Negaduck compared himself to Darkwing constantly, trying to see where he was better than his counterpart. But that was unfair to both of them; Darkwing would always win in the end because he allowed himself the luxury of working with others. But Negaduck’s small victories were all the more impressive because he’d won them on his own, something Darkwing could never have done. 

“You know,” Gosalyn said, giving up on Negaduck breaking the silence, “Dad mentioned that the Negaverse was a place where Darkwing Duck never existed. But he’s wrong. Darkwing Duck exists there. He just goes by a different name. And I don’t think Dad can ever come to terms with the fact that, in another universe, he’s the villain.” 

“The same applies to me!” Negaduck thundered. “I’m the hero in every other universe. I have a Gosalyn, I am best friends with Launchpad, I fight for justice and what’s _right_.” He trailed off, his eyes still trained far below. Gosalyn glanced at him from the corner of her eye. This time, she would wait for him to continue even if they were here all night with just the gusting wind to fill the silence between them.

Eventually, he spoke. “Negaduck only exists in one universe that I’ve seen.”

“You’re unique,” Gosalyn agreed. 

“I’m alone, you mean.” 

“You’re not alone,” she reassured him. 

“Aren’t I?” He glanced at her, his blue eyes nearly lost in the darkness around them. 

Gosalyn maintained eye contact, keeping her voice gentle. “Not if you don’t want to be.” 

He looked at her a moment longer before he shook his head. “That’s right. You want to be _partners_.” 

“I think we make a decent team,” Gosalyn pointed out, relieved that his tone of voice was annoyed. He was starting to return to himself.

“We haven’t partnered on anything that was successful. There’s no way to accurately measure if we work well together.” 

Silence fell around them. Even the wind stopped for a moment, leaving them in peace. Giving them this moment here without promising any others.

Feeling a gust start to dance with her hair, Gosalyn took the prompting and stood straight, setting her hands on the wall. “Well, I’m starting school in a few weeks, so you’ll have time to make a decision.” 

Negaduck looked back at her, his mask of disdain back in place. “Found a university that would accept you?” 

“I’ve had offers from a couple, thank you!” Gosalyn said, not affected by his gruff exterior. “But Dad insisted I choose one to attend in the Fall.” She shrugged.

“St. Canard University?” Negaduck questioned, rolling his eyes. 

“Stones College, actually.” 

Negaduck swallowed. “Outside the city.” 

“On the outskirts. Close enough to still come fight crime on the weekends but far enough away to get my studying done.” 

“What will you major in?” Negaduck asked. It was less a question than a challenge flung. 

“I’ll let future Gosalyn worry about that.” 

“Why even bother going to school if you don’t know why you’re going there?” 

“I’m mostly going cause Dad insists.”

Negaduck frowned, his eyes narrowing slightly in suspicion. But he asked, “When do you leave?”

“Mid August.” 

“Just a few weeks left.” 

“That’ll be filled with school shopping,” Gosalyn rolled her eyes. “Dad doesn’t want me to be the hero for awhile. He says I should try to be a normal citizen. Just because Quackerjack almost killed me or whatever.” 

“Not whatever,” Negaduck said firmly. “A brush with death is the best time to evaluate if you’re getting what you want out of life.” He paused, looking back down at the city. “Good luck. Figuring all that out, I mean.” 

“You don’t want to be partners,” she said.

He shook his head. “I can’t make that decision yet, kid. Darkwing’s not wrong this time, and I’ll deny it if you tell anyone I said that. You gotta lay low. Maybe learn how to do something else. I mean, crime fighting is usually a pretty short career—” 

“Ugh, you sound just like him!” Gosalyn said. 

“Well, I am him, aren’t I? Just evil?” 

“You’re _you_. Good, evil, or neutral.” 

Negaduck looked back at her, taking in a deep breath before he said, “Duckburg was a mess, but your idea wasn’t awful. If we would end up working together at some point, we’d make quite a team.” 

“Probably.” Gosalyn smiled. “I’ll be at Stones, if you’d want to contact me.” 

“Why would I want to contact you?” Negaduck asked. He walked back to his rope and grappling hook. Tossing it across to the other building, the hook grabbed onto something immediately. He fisted the rope to swing across. “See ya around, kid.”

“Wait!” Gosalyn said, running towards him. He looked back, his expression wary. “Where will you be? You know, in case I’d need to find you.” 

He rolled his eyes.

Gosalyn stepped forward, dragging this non-goodbye out as long as she could. “At least tell me where the Negaverse is.” 

Negaduck grinned knowingly. “You’ll figure it out.” And he swung away. 

That was no help. Her father and Negaduck were different ducks, but they were similar enough to both be confident that she could figure things out on her own. 

Well, she still hadn’t made a decision about whether or not to wear a hat with her costume, so she could safely say that their faith in her was misplaced. 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonus points to anyone who knows where the name of Gosalyn’s desired College came from :)


	17. EPILOGUE: See the World

Something woke Gosalyn. 

Without opening her eyes, she continued to breathe deeply as she listened for any disturbance. Being a hero, you needed to know how to fake sleep but be fully alert. Or so her father had said. She’d thought it was just another piece of advice Darkwing had given her. You know, specific enough that he could take credit for her triumphs but with enough vagueness that if she failed, he could claim she hadn’t understood. 

But he’d been right. Again. Which she would never tell him.

No sound seemed unusual. She couldn’t sense anything amiss. Sighing, she gradually opened her eyes, hoping that there was _something_ wrong. She would be so frustrated if she’d woken up _just because_.

Her roommate had recently moved out, claiming college wasn’t for her, and Gosalyn hadn’t managed to get another roommate since. The empty bed, slightly blacker than the rest of the room, stared back at Gosalyn defiantly. It had not made any sort of noise that would have woken Gosalyn up.

But something out in the halls could have made a noise. Gosalyn listened for any sort of sound coming from her dorm. There wasn’t any music, no doors opening and closing, not even any footfalls as someone made a late night run to the bathroom.

So what was had woken Gosalyn up? 

“About time.” 

Gosalyn bolted upright, looking toward her desk where a shadowy figure was sitting.

Recognizing who it was, Gosalyn flipped on her bedside light and turned towards her visitor. 

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

“Is this really what you’re writing your paper on?” he asked, holding up her printed essay.

“Negaduck…” 

“‘Art and its Impact on Society.’” He looked up at her, blue eyes almost shining under his scarlet fedora. “That’s nice and specific for an essay,” he sneered.

“My professor wrote essay topics on small pieces of paper and we had to pick what one we were going to write on. That was mine.” 

He raised an eyebrow and Gosalyn sighed.

“Fine. I chose it myself. I wanted an easy topic so I wouldn’t have to research much.” 

“This topic could be a book. Actually, I’m sure there _are_ books…” 

“My paper is more of an overview…” 

“Of all of art or society?”

“Both. Technically.” 

“In five pages?”

“It’s very succinct.” 

Negaduck shook his head. “You should drop out while you can.” 

“Finals are in three weeks.” 

“Better to admit defeat than write a crap essay,” Negaduck said, waving toward her stack of papers. 

“It’s not crap!” 

“Then you haven’t read it."

Gosalyn rolled her eyes. “Okay, it’s crap. But I’m not gonna rewrite it.” Gosalyn crossed her arms and gave Negaduck a piercing look. “Now it’s your turn to explain. Why are you here?” 

Negaduck’s eyes gleamed. “There’s a new villain in the Negaverse.” 

“Okay…?” Gosalyn said, trying to understand how this affected her.

“He’s trying to take over,” Negaduck elaborated.

“You’ve been in charge of the Negaverse for years. Why is one new villain making you run to me for help?” 

“Because you know him,” Negaduck said, something akin to excitement in his tone. 

“You should have led with that!” Gosalyn chastised. “Who is it?” 

“Some clown named Tuskernini. I don’t even know how he wandered into my world, but he’s there and is trying to film everything. He has penguins with him; I don’t know if  they are his accomplices or his henchmen… It’s all very unsettling.” 

“He’s not that threatening,” Gosalyn pointed out, cocking an eyebrow. “More eccentric.” 

“I only know violence and explosions and weapons,” Negaduck said defensively. “This guy just gets excited when I threaten him, saying we should do another ‘take’ and that I need to be more terrifying and wondering if I can get a bigger bazooka.” Negaduck scoffed. “Like I don't have a bigger bazooka. But I’m not gonna _tell_ him that.” 

Gosalyn smiled. “He is usually defeated by brains, not brawn.” 

“You saying I’m not smart?” Negaduck challenged.

“I didn’t say it. I was very careful about that.” 

He almost smiled, but refrained. “I didn’t come here to banter with you,” Negaduck said, standing and walking over to her bed. 

“No, you came to criticize my art essay.” 

“Don’t argue. I need to send this Tuskernini guy packing.” 

Gosalyn eyed Negaduck. “You really want my help?” 

“Yes.” Negaduck set his hands on her bed, leaning closer to her. “That, or I did come just to criticize your art essay.” 

“Why do one when you can do both?” 

A ghost of a smile appeared on Negaduck’s beak again, but he managed to keep it at bay. “Want to help me save the Negaverse from falling into a poorly directed B-rated Hollywood horror film?” 

Gosalyn didn’t answer right away, instead studying the duck in front of her.

She had missed him. It had been, what, almost ten months since she’d last seen him? Nearly a year apart and they hadn’t exchanged a word. He hadn’t even committed any crimes. None in St. Canard, anyway. Gosalyn had been so sure that he didn’t want to see her again. That he was too freaked out by what had happened between them and he’d severed all ties.

Seeing him standing before her now, Gosalyn wanted nothing more than to say yes. Race to the Negaverse and not think twice about leaving school behind.

But could she leave? 

Who knew how long it would take to “save” the Negaverse? She had only a few more weeks before she finished her first year of college. Although, she didn’t like it. None of the subjects interested her, not even criminology. Her mind always wandered back to her father, wishing she was alongside him. She daydreamed of finding the Negaverse and tracking down Negaduck. But she felt bad, up and leaving school when her father had been so adamant that she attend. 

This _was_ just Darkwing overreacting, really. He sent her to school to remove her from the real world; as if classes and a teacher could protect her any better than he could. It made him feel better, though, to think she was off in an enclosed protected location keeping herself occupied as he continued to fight in St. Canard. The last time he’d done this she’d managed to convince him to let her fight alongside him. Could she do it again?

She wanted to resume her partnership with Negaduck. She wanted to fight for St. Canard. She wanted to dress up in her Quiverwing costume again and fight criminals. She wanted to go home with her father and Launchpad. She wanted to sleep on Avian Way and work in Darkwing Tower.

And Negaduck was offering her a way to have all of that.

Gosalyn smiled, throwing off her sheets. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” 

Negaduck did smile then and tossed her a packed bag he had thrown together. He darted towards her door, not bothering to wait for her as he burst out into the hallway. Gosalyn grabbed a few last minute essentials before springing after him.

She had a parallel universe to save. 

 

**THE END**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have contemplated a sequel to this story. What do you think? Anyone interested? Or anyone want to tell me that I should never write again ever under any circumstances? Either way, let me know!!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed my little exploration in the DWD universe :) Thank you all for giving this story your time!
> 
> ~RS


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